Come Follow Me LDS - Mormon 7-9
Nov 17, 2020
'The 2 Sticks of Israel'
- Mormon calls on Israel in the Last Days to believe in Jesus Christ
- The Lamanites will learn through the Book of Mormon that they are the children of Israel
- In the last days, those who believe in the Bible will believe in the Book of Mormon and visa versa.
- Judgment means that we will choose to our reward based on our level of spiritual comfort in glory.
Raw Transcript
all right
all right welcome to the quick media
come follow me series for the book of
mormon
we are covering mormon chapters seven
through nine these are the last three
chapters of the
the book of mormon but uh
we only get one of these chapters
actually from mormon chapters eight and
nine
are from moroni so we're going to look
at their messages
and and what they have to say to us what
is mormon's last
words to us they're found here in
chapter seven
in the chapter summary we get this
mormon invites the lamanites of the
latter days to believe in christ
right so this is one of his major
messages and always has been
throughout all of the book of mormon
that uh
most of the book of mormon that he is
responsible for for abridging
this has been a common theme and thread
for mormon throughout
this abridgement starting with what we
have in the book of mosiah
of course going back to nephi and the
others this
as well is a focus right this is what
the nephites are about
they are about the doctrine of christ
and then the second point that is made
here in the summary is all who believe
in the bible will also believe in the
book of mormon think about that for a
minute
all who believe in the bible will also
believe in the book of mormon
are we anywhere near that today we're
not
now there is a third message here that's
not in the summary that mormon starts
off with here in chapter 7 and that is
that of the house of israel
and the restoration through the
abrahamic covenant
and the fullness of the gospel coming to
the house of israel
and we don't want to forget that because
that is also another common theme
throughout the entire book of mormon
this is one of the focuses of bringing
isaiah
into the book of mormon over and over
and over again
because isaiah continually talks about
the abrahamic covenant and the
prophecies of the latter days with the
house of israel
he says here in verse 2 know ye that ye
are of the house
of israel speaking of the remnant of
that of the house of israel which is the
lamanites
right now think about him now his his
people are gone for the most part he's
wounded
he's dying his people have been
completely destroyed virtually
and now he knows that just the lamanites
are left he knows what's going on this
has been prophesied
for a long time and he knows that as he
leaves this mortality
this record that he has been responsible
for
is what is going to come back to
the descendants of these lamanites
who have completely lost the gospel of
jesus christ
and will completely forget who they are
and so he says to them this is his
message back to them specifically again
in verse 5
know ye that ye must come to the
knowledge of your
fathers right so it's it's it's
perhaps you could go back and say okay
this is who you are here in this record
as far as the lamanites go
but your fathers are lehi and zariah
your fathers are joseph and esseneth
your fathers are abraham isaac
and jacob you are of the house of israel
so that becomes a major point for him to
say look you need to turn
your perspective toward an understanding
of your identity
this is who you are and along with that
of course
it then says and repent of all your sins
and iniquities and believe
in jesus christ that he is the son of
god
so this is how we're opening up this
chapter here before we end up going into
the bible and the book of mormon and
belief in those two records
and then in this short chapter here
going down to verse 8 therefore repent
and be baptized in the name of jesus
we're going into the doctrine of christ
here
be baptized in the name of jesus and lay
hold upon
the gospel of christ which shall be set
before you not only in this record
being the book of mormon but also in the
record which shall come
unto the gentiles from the jews the
bible which record shall come from
the gentiles unto you being
the lamanites right well we know that
that's exactly what happens
right that through the brutal
right colonization and conquering of the
americas
that the gentiles who have the bible
bring that record to the ancient
inhabitants of the americas
now when we talk about the lamanites
receiving
the gospel receiving the bible here i
think we need to be careful
in in identifying who the lamanites are
we don't really
know exactly who that means we have
different comments from different
leaders of the church
but as i've said before right it says
that the gentiles bring the bible to
them well is that
all of the europeans for example
that are bringing the bible to them no
it's a very very small group
of people they come over to the americas
especially at first
and when we talk about the gentiles
being those that are going to bring
the bible to
the remnant of the house of israel to
the lamanites very small group who are
the lamanites that are going to receive
that
well that might be a very small group
also
so we get the idea that yes there is a
large group of gentiles
there is a large group of lamanites
right but but that doesn't mean that
everybody is going to receive that
i don't think that that's that's
typically not the way the scriptures
identify and act with a people
for example when jesus visits the
nephites slash
lamanites right he makes the visit at
first to only 2500 people about bad
bountiful
and then a few more that come at the end
of his visit
and yet jesus visited the nephites
right even though there are hundreds of
thousands
of nephites and lamanites that never saw
jesus
so we need to think about what that
means small group of gentiles
that the the lamanites that receive
these things may be a smaller group than
we might think it doesn't mean it's
everybody
so then he goes on in verse 9 and says
something really fascinating to me he
says
for behold this is written being the
book of mormon
for the intent that ye may believe that
what's that that's the bible so
how is it that the lamanites are really
going to believe the bible they may have
it
but are they going to be fully converted
to it
right it looks to me like what mormon is
saying here is that it is the book of
mormon that will convert people to the
bible
or more fully convert them and that
makes all the sense in the world
right it is the book of mormon
that ratifies what we have in the bible
and so we might make some assumptions
here on what could be happening in the
future on this and what mormon has seen
he's seen the last days
and that is is that people are going to
lose their testimonies
of the bible so christianity more
broadly the gentiles more broadly
are going to lose their religion
and it's the book of mormon for many of
them
that is going to end up supporting what
the bible says
i would guess that through scholarship
the bible becomes as they would say
today
deconstructed and through that
scholarship
and the internet and knowledge people
lose belief in the bible and it is the
book of mormon
the way that it is written perhaps even
the way isaiah
is used that will be a major force
in bringing about a conversion to the
bible
of those that may have lost their belief
in that book because he says this
if ye believe that you will believe this
also well that certainly is not the case
today
right we are not at that point yet and
if you believe
this being the book of mormon you will
know concerning your fathers that's the
lamanites
and also the marvelous works which were
wrought upon brought by the power of god
among them okay so again
it's the book of mormon it's the two
sticks
right it is the two sticks and knowing
how
mormon has well at least how this
chapter is divided here is he starts off
saying
that know ye this year the house of
israel we can take a look
at that scripture in ezekiel 37
that talks about the stick of judah and
the stick of ephraim or the stick of
joseph
which we identify as the stick of judah
as the bible the stick of joseph or
ephraim as the stick
which is the book book of mormon and
that's being used right here
and so there's a knowledge of this of
how this is going to work even though
mormon does not have ezekiel's writings
unless they got it through christ
when he was visiting them
now i want to just quickly go to ezekiel
here because we've heard a number of
things about
these two sticks but we may not see them
in context
with what is surrounding those verses
if we go back to chapter 36 here's the
chapter summary there in ezekiel
in the last days all the house of israel
will be gathered to their own lands
again that is
that is a physical manifestation and
maybe even a spiritual metaphor
for the abrahamic covenant right
remember abraham what is his whole life
about
leica right it's a it's about it's about
the journey
that he has to get to the promised land
which he never really gets
but does because actually the promised
land really is exaltation
which is why we have the jesus's parable
of
lazarus going to the bosom of abraham
because abraham does get to the promised
land he does get exaltation
but that gathering together to the
promised land is part of the abrahamic
covenant
that is promised to the house of israel
that has been lost for millennia
the summary goes on and says the lord
will give them a new heart
and a new spirit they will have his
gospel law
right so a new heart and a new spirit
meaning what
well it's like it's like jeremiah's
fleshy
tables right of instead of the stone
tables of the lower law
that moses brings down secondarily from
sinai
which are hard and engraven right
the law will be written on our hearts on
fleshy
tables on our heart right that's that's
the higher law
it's an understanding of the fulfillment
of the abrahamic
covenant which is what mormon is talking
about
in conjunction with the stick of judah
and the stick of ephraim
in a few different places here in
chapter 36 we'll just dip in here
and i scattered them among the heathen
right that's the fall
of the house of israel
that's already happened before ezekiel
writes this
it's the separation of the two kingdoms
of the kingdom of the north
the kingdom of the south it's the
disbursement of the northern kingdom
from the battle with these the battles
with the assyrians
and the 10 lost tribes it later becomes
the
scattering of the jews through the
babylonians as they
raise jerusalem and take
many of the jews captive right it's what
must happen before a gathering again
it's like covenant
a covenant means to cut something apart
first
and then bring it back together that's
how the house of israel
works that's why it needs to be gathered
because it has been scattered
down in 24 for i will take you from
among the heathen and
gather you out of all the countries and
will bring you into your own
land the gathering then has to do
with exaltation the gathering has to do
with going to the promised
land and then down in 26
a new heart also will i give you a new
spirit
will i put within you what is that where
is that coming from
well that that is the higher law that's
the fullness of the gospel that's
jesus christ the doctrine of christ
and the fulfillment of the abrahamic
covenant and i will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh
and i will give you a heart of flesh
okay think about ezekiel's vision
of the the dry bones which is what we
start off with in
chapter 37. it's the same idea here
you've got a stony heart like a
dry bone heart
and i'm going to put flesh on that i'm
going to make it live i'm going to give
the spirit to you
and you shall dwell in the land that i
gave your fathers
and ye shall be my people and i will be
your god so they're going to know who he
is who is he
it's jesus christ and then in 35 and
they shall say this land that was
desolate
has become like the garden of eden so
it's like bountiful
right it's going from a fallen state to
a higher state
it's the same idea with what ezekiel's
going to now go through in chapter 37
we don't usually pull all this
information together when we talk about
the two sticks right but here right at
the top of
but here right in chapter 37 what do we
start off with
the vision of the dry bones
where in the valley he sees very dry
bones and the lord says to ezekiel can
these bones live
we usually look at this just kind of
like the idea of resurrection that's not
what i would look at here this is the
house of israel
right this is a restoration to the house
of israel of the abrahamic
covenant and the doctrine of christ how
do they receive that they get that
through the book of mormon
through the stick of joseph
thus saith the lord god unto these bones
behold i will cause
breath to enter into you and ye shall
live just like with adam
it's like a new creation and ezekiel
then says in verse 7 so i prophesied as
i was commanded and as i prophesied
there was a noise and behold a shaking
and the bones came together bone to his
bone that's kind of interesting that's
very similar to saying
this is bone of my bones and flesh of my
flesh
right for adam and eve but he says still
at this point there's no breath in them
prophesies to the wind the four
directions of the wind
those come in and breath comes into
the bones so in verse 11 here
right before we're going to go into
these two sticks with ezekiel
here's what we get these bones are the
whole
house of israel this is about the house
of israel
it's exactly what mormon is talking
about here
behold they say our bones are dried and
our hope is lost because they're fallen
they've
lost the doctrine of christ they've been
scattered
they've lost an understanding of the
fullness of the abrahamic covenant
and again and i shall put my spirit in
you and ye
shall live and i shall place you in your
own
land the promised land
exaltation the abrahamic covenant
and then the word of the lord came again
unto me saying and this is what we kind
of com compartmentalize here
into kind of a bumper sticker
understanding of the two sticks
but when we get the greater context and
understanding
of this being part of the gathering of
israel and the restoration of the
doctrine of christ
and the abrahamic covenant this this all
falls into place
just as mormon is describing here
verse 16 moreover thou son of man take
thee one stick and
write upon it for judah and for the
children of israel his companions
right that's the bible then take another
stick and write upon it
for joseph the stick of ephraim
and for all the house of israel his
companions that's the book of mormon
and join them one to another into one
stick and they shall become
one in thine hand right so
as ezekiel sees this vision and he sees
all about the gathering of israel and
moving to a promised land
and then the dry bones which are israel
being given life and breath
and flesh right a new creation a
restoration
we can see that where the way that comes
about is by
the two sticks is by the bible
and the book of mormon and of course we
know very well as we've covered
many times that the book of mormon is
the tool
to gather israel to the promised land
which is a metaphor
for exaltation and the abrahamic
covenant
as he ends talking about the styx the
lord tells ezekiel this and say unto
them
thus saith the lord god behold i will
take the children of israel
from among the heathen whether they be
gone and will gather them on every side
and bring them into their own land
right this two sticks are that
they are a gathering together of israel
through those two sticks
and i will make them one nation in the
land upon the mountains of israel
because they've been scattered and one
king
shall be king to them all well who's
that
and they shall be no more two nations
which is the northern kingdom
in the southern kingdom or in other
words ephraim
which is the northern kingdom and the
ten tribes and judah
which is the southern kingdom that has
mostly judah and benjamin
but there'll be one nation combined
under one single king
and david my servant shall be king over
them well
david's long been dead
been about 3 000 years now
so what does that mean david's gonna be
their king
or is it a davidic king what does the
word
david mean in hebrew it means beloved
how does the father introduce jesus
christ
this is my beloved son
jesus is the davidic king
he also says my servant here david my
servant which
we can look at the servant songs in
isaiah as representative of
jesus christ and they
all shall have one shepherd so
again we get here is we're getting
exactly what we're supposed to get from
the book of mormon
and exactly what it is describing here
inherently
in chapter 7 of mormon and that is that
the book of mormon
is clarifying the bible
and this is just one little example of
that
as it so happens exactly where
mormon is describing how these
two records will work together
now as we move over to chapter eight now
we're going to start
with moroni so let me just backtrack a
second here with mormon
look at his last words it's the
gathering of israel
the lamanites understanding who they are
right
it's the abrahamic covenant it is the
doctrine of christ and it is how the
book of mormon
is going to be the tool to bring all
that to pass
in the last days and that is what
mormon has been focusing on in all of
his abridgement from what we have
starting in the book of mosiah onward
and of course again
it's what nephi focused on as well and
jacob
so that's his primary message now going
to moroni
from here on out everything else is a
message from moroni
chapters eight and nine are finished
here he's going to finish in
the in the space that he has left in the
book of mormon being
that the the vacant area of the plates
that is left which is not very much
that is what he means by finishing
mormon's record
and then we're going to get the book of
ether which is an abridgement done
by moroni so
he's going to be the master of the
message
right he's going to create the narrative
in the book of ether
and then of course we get the book of
moroni with his own words there
so we want to pay attention to what his
message is
after mormon here starting here in
chapter eight
he says in verse one behold i i do
finish the record of my father
mormon behold i have but few things to
write
he thinks he just has a few things to
write which things i have been commanded
by my father it's interesting with
moroni because
he always thinks there's only a little
small amount that he's supposed to do
but this is about 8 400 right now
when mormon dies and
moroni finishes off this little record
with a little bit of space that's left
and then he doesn't die right he thinks
he's going to die everybody else has
but he doesn't and so then he goes and
he
has the time and he has years and years
he doesn't die he doesn't
put the plates away and he doesn't
deposit the plates in the hill comore
until 421 21 years later
so he abridges the book of ether puts
that in and then a couple times in his
own book in moroni he says
well i'm done writing goodbye and then
the next chapter he comes back again so
the lord spares him for quite a while
here
to continue to put a message together
that moroni was not expecting to write
so from here to the rest of the book of
mormon we're going to focus on moroni's
narrative here
first he says he's alone we don't know
exactly what that means is he the only
direct descendant of nephi left is he
actually all by himself
does he have his family with him at
least that's hard to say
we don't get a whole lot of
clarification on this
in verse 5 we see that he really has a
very small
amount to right that is left on the
plates right he's got the plates here
the gold plates that mormon has a bridge
that's his record that includes
everything we have from the book of
mosiah on plus what was
lost through martin harris before that
he does not have any ore and he doesn't
have any space
so there's not much much choice here
he's just got a little bit he can fill
in
and that's basically what we get with
chapters 8 and 9.
and then coming down to verse 23
we get this again search the prophecies
of
isaiah right his father has died
moroni is here looking at everything
everything that he's learned from his
father
and he again says search the prophecies
of isaiah
and and we need to do that more
we need to understand it that that is a
key
that if we can as a church really as
members really understand that
isaiah with the clarification of the of
the book of mormon
that doesn't just mean oh there's little
changes in isaiah in the words
where we have it copied into the book of
mormon that's not enough
that's just scratching the surface on
that it's how it's used and why it's
used and what is the context
of where it's used by the authors
especially mosiah
nephi alma mormon
moroni the savior we need to really
grab onto this because it it identifies
the purpose and narrative of the book of
mormon
and then he says look this is going to
come out in the last days in a time when
it shall be said that miracles are done
away right so
what happens with a fallen people
right a fallen people from
the truth from the gospel they close off
the heavens
right it's like anything we become
hard-hearted
and that means calloused we don't want
to let anything
in well in from where in from the lord
that means everything that is the higher
law right the holy ghost coming down
to us any gifts coming from
the spirit inspiration and revelation
the words of additional words of the
prophets no we
seal off the heavens
that includes as he says here miracles
and then and so a fallen people would
say that those are done
he further says it shall come in a day
when the power of god shall be denied
right and churches become defiled
and be lifted up right just opposed to
being lifted up on the cross
but the churches shall be lifted up in
the pride of their hearts
so not the tree of life which is the
doctrine of christ
and lift it up on the cross lifted up as
in the brazen serpent as the healer
lifted up as in resurrection that we go
through in
baptism but otherwise lifted up as in
puffed up as in leavened bread
as in the great and spacious building
the opposite
of the doctrine of christ or being
lifted up in the doctrine of christ
and that's that's obviously where we
find ourselves now right it's from
it's from uh nephi's vision as well a
bible a bible we have a bible
we don't do not need another bible we
don't need further revelation
we will dictate to you lord
what you will tell us and what you won't
tell us
and then furthermore we get what we get
typically we might see in
joel and this is what moroni one of the
things moroni covered with joseph smith
in his room before he even went and saw
the book of mormon
fires tempests vapors of smoke and
foreign lands
wars rumors of wars and earthquakes in
diverse places
that is that is a connection here from
mormon 8 and what moroni is writing
to joel and what moroni says to
joseph smith well that makes all the
sense in the world moroni
is telling us this right here he just
repeats it to joseph smith
in other words i said before i died
in my father's record that it would come
the book of mormon was going to come
forth in a specific time and here's the
description
and now i'm giving you that description
again as he speaks to joseph smith
and then he also makes a mention here
which i think is going to become a
bigger and bigger deal
well we know it is it's it's natural to
see where things are going
why are you ashamed to take upon you the
name of christ
that is going to become a bigger and
bigger deal
right as as the forces of the great and
spacious building are going to fight
against the doctrine of christ
more and more as that great and spacious
building gets lifted up in its own pride
higher and higher
it is going to look down on the
followers of the doctrine of christ
and if we allow that to be shameful to
us
then just like in lehi's dream
we risk the chance of falling away
from that tree of life from the doctrine
of christ
and then as moroni thinks that he's
going to finish and be done
with his record with his writing here
this is what he gives us in the last
chapter of mormon as he fills in the
very
last spaces here small
probably very small space on the gold
plates
and he goes into something that's kind
of an interesting doctrine here
and that is if you look at verse 3
he gives us he drops us into the
situation that we we could each face if
we're not careful he says
then will ye longer deny the christ
or can ye behold the lamb of god do ye
suppose that ye shall dwell with him
under a consciousness of your guilt
being that you're
now going on to the afterlife here
so again do ye suppose that ye shall
dwell with him
under a consciousness of your guilt
do ye suppose that ye could be happy to
dwell with that holy being
when your souls are wracked with a
consciousness of guilt
that ye have ever abused his laws so
this is something we may have all heard
before we can think of a real judgmental
god oh i i'm setting down these abstract
rules
and you have to follow them and if you
follow them just as i tell you then you
can
you can be blessed and come with me in
the end but if you don't
you are condemned right that's not a
loving god
but if there are natural laws in place
natural spiritual laws
already in place that are required for
us to
follow so that we can progress using
agency then really what the lord is
doing for us what our heavenly father is
doing for us is
trying to guide us along those eternal
principles
and it's not him coming in and just
being angry and judgmental because we
broke some of his laws but it's again
that part of the doctrine of christ that
is about
becoming and if we don't become
like him then we will not even want to
dwell with him we won't want those
blessings
he says here behold i say unto you that
you would be more
miserable to dwell with a holy and just
god under a consciousness of your
filthiness
before him then ye would to dwell with
the damned souls in hell
right when we say hell we're talking
about and damned again we're talking
about as
a cessation of progression
right it's where we're stopped and that
is the difference between
the celestial kingdom and especially
exaltation and the other kingdoms
there is a dam in place
holding us off on our progression that
doesn't mean we can't be happy
that doesn't mean that it is not
glorious it is
but we cannot grow the way that god
grows
but i think that's interesting to look
at here when we try to think about
who god is and what his love for us
means as compared to judgment upon us
and then in talking about the fullness
of the gospel which is what the book of
mormon holds
what it what it contains it says and i
again speak unto you who deny the
revelations of god
he's talking to us in the last days and
say that they are
done away that there are no revelations
nor prophecies nor
gifts nor healing he's going to get to
gifts in moroni 10.
nor speaking with tongues and the
interpretation of tongues behold i say
unto you
he that denieth these things knoweth not
the gospel of christ because the gospel
of christ is all about
the higher law what comes to us from him
yea he hath not read the scriptures if
so
he does not understand them
so he knows very well the situation
that we will be in here and we see that
in christianity
as a whole right there was a time with
the bible when these miracles happened
when
the spiritual gifts were there but
there are there's no more bible there
are no more prophets
not everyone right but but broadly
speaking that's the case
and then lastly i want to move all the
way down to
verses 32 and 33.
right as he as he thinks he's finished
up here with writing
he goes over something here that's
important to understand
he says in verse 32 and now behold we
have written this record according to
our knowledge
in the characters which are called among
us who's us
it is for him then the contemporary
modern nephites it is not
nephi nephites this is different this is
a thousand years after nephi
so it's what's called among us reformed
egyptian being handed down and altered
by us
according to our manner of speech okay
so
he's looking back on the history of the
lehites
and he looks back a thousand years
and remember that the brass plates that
nephi grabbed from laban are written
in egyptian they're not written
in reformed egyptian necessarily right
that that's not what is being said here
doesn't look like to me the reformed
egyptian
is the same as if we took english and we
looked back a thousand years
we're at that point we're barely moving
into what we call middle english where
there's a lot more latin influence
mostly from the normans of of normandy
who conquered the anglo-saxon nations
back then
but go back to old english or middle
english and try and read it and
understand it
good luck it's the same process here the
the way that things are written remember
there are massive amounts of records
that ameron had given to mormon or had
him look at
he only works with the plates of nephi
and so there's a lot of writing
and and records that are taken and
little by little
these things get changed that's what
ends up as reformed egyptian remember
that in the book of nephi in first nephi
chapter one in verse two this is what we
get from nephi says yeah i make a record
in the language
of my father which consists
of the learning of the jews and the
language of the egyptians
so this is what they would write in and
why would that be
because they're josephites they
are josephites their heritage is joseph
in egypt
those brass plates probably came from
joseph
down through joshua and ended up going
to laban eventually
through the years so that's their
heritage
that's what they do they write in
egyptian
it is a much shorter script for them to
write and to put into
plates of metal which is a very very
tedious process
so nephi does not call it reformed
egyptian the only time we get reformed
egyptian in the entire book of mormon
is in moroni 9 because
after the thousand years from nephi all
the way down to moroni
that egyptian has reformed it has
changed
and so then moroni kind of completes
mormon's message here or summarizes it
again
in verse 36 and behold these things
which we have desired concerning our
brethren
yay even the restoration to the
knowledge of
christ remember today they
many many of those in the americas
already have the bible
to the knowledge of christ are according
to the prayers of all the saints who
have dwelt in the land
and may the lord jesus christ grant that
their prayers may be answered according
to their faith because this has been the
effort of of
the nephites for a thousand years is to
still
bring the gospel to the lamanites
they've always wanted to do this
and may god the father remember the
covenant
which he hath made with the house of
israel
well he's going to remember it through
moroni
bearing the place and may he bless them
forever through
faith on the name of jesus christ amen
i'll talk to you next time
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Book of Mormon Ether
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