The Articles of Faith Part 40

[946] I Nephi xix, 12-14.

[947] I Nephi xxii, 1-4.

[948] I Nephi xxii, 7.

[949] II Nephi vi, 8.

[950] II Nephi xxv, 14-15.

[951] Verse 15.

=13.= The Lamanites, a division of Lehi's colony, were also to be disrupted and scattered, as witness the words of Samuel, a prophet of that benighted people.[952] Nephi, the third prophet of that name, grandson of Helaman, emphasizes the dispersion of his people by declaring that their "dwellings shall become desolate."[953] Jesus Himself, after His resurrection, while ministering to the division of His flock on the western hemisphere, refers solemnly to the remnant of the chosen seed who are to be "scattered forth upon the face of the earth because of their unbelief."[954]

[952] Helaman xv, 12.

[953] III Nephi x, 7.

[954] III Nephi xvi, 4.

=14.= From these references it is plain that the followers of Lehi, including his own family, and Zoram,[955] together with Ishmael and his family,[956] from whom sprang the mighty peoples the Nephites, who suffered extermination because of their unfaithfulness, and the Lamanites, who, now known as the American Indians, have continued in troubled existence until the present day, were informed by revelation of the dispersion of their former compatriots in the land of Palestine, and of their own certain doom as a result of their disobedience to the laws of G.o.d. We have said that the transfer of Lehi and his followers from the eastern to the western hemisphere was itself a part of the general dispersion. It should be remembered that another colony of Jews came to the western hemisphere, the start dating about eleven years after the time of Lehi's departure. This second company was led by Mulek, a son of Zedekiah the last king of Judah; they left Jerusalem immediately after the capture of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, about 588 B. C.[957]

[955] I Nephi iv, 20-26, 30-37.

[956] I Nephi vii, 2-6, 19, 22; xvi, 7.

[957] Omni i, 14-19; Mos. xxv, 2-4; Alma xxii, 30-32; Hel. vi, 10; viii, 21; p. 268.

=15. The Fulfillment of these Prophecies.=--The sacred scriptures, as well as other writings for which the claim of direct inspiration is not a.s.serted, record the literal fulfillment of prophecy in the desolation of the house of Israel. The dividing of the nation into the separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel led to the downfall of both. As the people grew in their disregard for the laws of their fathers, their enemies were permitted to triumph over them. After many minor losses in war, the kingdom of Israel met an overwhelming defeat at the hands of the a.s.syrians, in or about the year 721 B. C. We read that Shalmanezer IV, king of a.s.syria, besieged Samaria, the third and last capital of the kingdom,[958] and that after three years the city was taken by Sargon, Shalmanezer's successor. The people of Israel were carried captive into a.s.syria, and distributed among the cities of the Medes.[959] Thus was the dread prediction of Ahijah to the wife of Jeroboam fulfilled. Israel was "scattered beyond the river,"[960]

probably the Euphrates, and from the time of this event the ten tribes are entirely lost to history.

[958] Shechem was the first capital of the kingdom of Israel (I Kings xii, 25); later, Tirzah became the capital: it was famous for its beauty (I Kings xiv, 17; xv, 33; xvi, 8,17, 23; Song of Sol. vi, 4); and lastly Samaria (1 Kings xvi, 24).

[959] II Kings xvii, 5-6; xviii, 9-11.

[960] I Kings xiv, 15.

=16.= The sad fate of the kingdom of Israel had some effect in partially awakening among the people of Judah a sense of their own impending doom. Hezekiah reigned as king for nine and twenty years, and proved himself a bright exception to a line of wicked rulers who had preceded him. Of him we are told that "he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord."[961] During his reign, the a.s.syrians under Sennacherib invaded the land; but the Lord's favor was in part restored to the people, and Hezekiah roused them to a reliance upon their G.o.d, bidding them take courage and fear not the a.s.syrian king nor his hosts, "for" said this righteous prince, "there be more with us than with him; With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our G.o.d, to help us and to fight our battles."[962] The a.s.syrian army was miraculously destroyed.[963] But Hezekiah died, and Mana.s.seh ruled in his stead; this king did evil in the sight of the Lord,[964] and the wickedness of the people continued for half a century or more, broken only by the good works of one righteous king, Josiah.[965]

[961] II Kings xviii, 1-3; II Chron. xxix, 1-11.

[962] II Chron. x.x.xii, 7-8.

[963] II Chron. x.x.xii, 21-22.

[964] II Chron. x.x.xiii, 1-10; II Kings xxi, 1-9.

[965] II Kings xxii, 1; II Chron. x.x.xiv, 1.

=17.= While Zedekiah occupied the throne, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, laid siege to Jerusalem,[966] took the city about 588 B. C., and soon thereafter led the people captive into Babylon, thus virtually putting an end to the kingdom of Judah. The people were scattered among the cities of Asia; and groaned under the vicissitudes of the Babylonian captivity for nearly seventy years,[967] after which they were given permission by Cyrus the Persian, who had subdued the Babylonians, to return to Jerusalem. Mult.i.tudes of the exiled Hebrews availed themselves of this opportunity, though many remained in the land of their captivity; and while those who did return earnestly sought to re-establish themselves on a scale of their former power, they were never again truly an independent people. They were a.s.sailed by Syria and Egypt, and later became tributary to Rome, in which condition they were during the personal ministry of Christ among them.

[966] II Kings xxv, 1-3; II Chron. x.x.xvi, 17.

[967] See pp. 327-328.

=18.= Jeremiah's prophecy still lacked a complete fulfillment, but time proved that not a word was to fail. "Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it; it shall be wholly carried away captive;"[968]

this was the prediction. A rebellious disturbance among the Jews gave a semblance of excuse for a terrible chastis.e.m.e.nt to be visited upon them by their Roman masters, which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem, A. D. 71. The city fell after a six months' siege before the Roman arms led by t.i.tus, son of the Emperor Vespasian. Josephus, the famous historian, to whom we owe most of our knowledge as to the details of the struggle, was himself a resident in Galilee and was carried to Rome among the captives. From his record we learn that more than a million Jews lost their lives through the famine incident to the siege; many more were sold into slavery, and uncounted numbers were forced into exile. The city was utterly destroyed, and the site upon which the temple had stood was plowed up by the Romans in their search for treasure. Thus literally were the words of Christ fulfilled, "There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."[969]

[968] Jer. xiii, 19.

[969] Matt. xxiv, 1-2; see also Luke xix, 44. See "Jesus the Christ," pp. 563, 567, 586.

=19.= Since the destruction of Jerusalem and the final disruption of the organized people, the Jews have been wanderers upon the face of the earth, outcasts among the nations, a people without a country, a nation without a home. The prophecy uttered by Amos of old has had its literal fulfillment: truly have Israel been sifted among all nations "like as corn is sifted in a sieve;"[970] let it be remembered, however that coupled with this dread prediction was the promise, "Yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth."

[970] Amos ix, 9.

=20. The Lost Tribes.=--As already stated, in the division of the Israelites after the death of Solomon, ten tribes established themselves as an independent kingdom. This, the kingdom of Israel, was terminated, as far as history is concerned, by the a.s.syrian captivity, 721 B. C. The people were led into a.s.syria; and later disappeared so completely that they have been called the Lost Tribes. They seem to have departed from a.s.syria, and while we lack definite information as to their final destination and present location, there is abundant evidence that their journey was toward the north.[971] The Lord's Word through Jeremiah promises that the people shall be brought back "from the land of the north,"[972] and a similar declaration has been made through Divine revelation during the present dispensation.[973]

[971] Jer. iii, 12.

[972] Jer. xvi, 15; xxiii, 8; x.x.xi, 8.

[973] Doc. and Cov. cx.x.xiii, 26-27.

=21.= In the writings of Esdras or Ezra, which, however, are not included among the canonical books of the Bible, but are known as apocryphal, we find references to the north-bound migration of the ten tribes, which they undertook in accordance with a plan to escape the heathen by going to "a further country where never man dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes which they never kept in their own land."[974] The same writer informs us further that they journeyed a year and a half into the north country; but he gives us evidence that many remained in the land of their captivity.

[974] II Esdras xiii. See Note 4.

=22.= The resurrected Christ, while ministering among the Nephites on this hemisphere, specifically mentioned "the other tribes of the house of Israel, whom the Father hath led away out of the land;"[975] and again He referred to them as "other sheep which are not of this land, neither of the land of Jerusalem; neither in any parts of that land around about, whither I have been to minister."[976] Christ announced a commandment of the Father that He should reveal Himself to them. The present location of the Lost Tribes has not been accurately revealed.

[975] III Nephi xv, 15.

[976] III Nephi xvi, 1.

NOTES.

=1. Hebrews.=--Shem is called "the father of all the children of Eber," as Ham is called father of Canaan. The Hebrews and Canaanites were often brought into contact, and exhibited the respective characteristics of the Shemites and the Hamites. The term "Hebrews" thus is derived from "Eber" (Gen. x, 21; comp.

Numb, xxiv, 24).--_Bible Cyclopedia_, by Fausset.

The writer of the article "Hebrew" in Ca.s.sell's Bible Dictionary questions the evidence on which the derivation of "Hebrew" from "Eber" or "Heber" is a.s.serted, and says: "All that can be confidently affirmed is that the term is employed of Abraham, and of the descendants of Jacob in general. The interest attaching to the word, coupled with its obscure origin, suffices to account for the many speculations in regard to it. It may be added that some scholars have found the name 'Hebrews,' a little changed, on the monuments of Egypt. If this interpretation is verified, it will be of value, as showing that when the Egyptians called Joseph a Hebrew, they employed the designation which was accepted among them."

=2. Jews.=--The term properly signifies "a man of Judah," or a descendant of Judah, but the word came to be applied to all those who were otherwise designated 'Hebrews.' It does not appear to have come into use until long after the revolt of Jeroboam and the ten tribes, and so long as the kingdom stood, it was naturally employed of the citizens of the kingdom of Judah (II Kings xvi, 6; xxv, 25); but it rarely occurs in this sense. After the exile it took the extension of meaning which it has to the present day. It was adopted by the remnants of all the tribes, and was the one name by which the descendants of Jacob were known throughout the ancient world; certainly it was far more common than 'Hebrew.' It occurs in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, etc., is found in the Apocrypha; and is common in Josephus, and in the New Testament."--_Ca.s.sell's Bible Dictionary_.

"Under the theocracy they were known as Hebrews, under the monarchy as Israelites, and during foreign domination as Jews.

The modern representatives of this stock call themselves Hebrews in race and language, and Israelites in religion, but Jews in both senses."--_Standard Dictionary_.

=3. Zenos.=--"A Hebrew prophet, often quoted by the Nephite servants of G.o.d. All we are told of his personal history is that he was slain because he testified boldly of what G.o.d revealed to him. That he was a man greatly blessed of the Lord with the spirit of prophecy is shown by that wonderful and almost incomparable parable of the Vineyard, given at length by Jacob (Jacob, chap. v). His prophecies are also quoted by Nephi (I Nephi xix, 10, 12, 16), Alma (Alma x.x.xiii, 3, 13, 15), Amulek, Alma (x.x.xiv, 7), Samuel the Lamanite (Helaman xv, 11), and Mormon (III Nephi x, 16)."--_Dictionary of the Book of Mormon_, by Elder George Reynolds.