Response to Sarah's Comment in "Restoring Courage"

Disclaimer:  First, this post was too large to post as a comment so I am posting it as a new post.  However, it is a response to a few questions that were asked by a friend, to which I would refer you before you read this post.  Please read the post "Restoring Courage" and the comments before reading this post. Second, My response is according to my beliefs as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and relies heavily on all scriptures accepted by the Church.  I understand that many who read this will have different beliefs and may not be familiar with the beliefs of the LDS Church.  If anyone would like clarification of the things I say here, please feel free to ask.  I also welcome other opinions.  We can’t convince anyone to believe as we do and that is not the intent of this post nor of this blog as a whole.  This is a medium for a free expression of ideas, from which it is my hope those of us who read and participate will gain a deeper understanding of the issues covered.  Thank you.

Hi Sarah,

I’m sorry it has taken me a little while to respond back to you, but I inadvertently erased the post I wrote before I was able to publish it to the page.  I needed a little time to recollect my thoughts before I attempted this for the second time.  I’m glad Meredith was able to share her perspective with you and I also appreciate the comments left by Anonymous.  I will begin by saying that I agree with the points that Meredith outlined and so I don’t feel I need to elaborate on them.  I will talk more about the reference she gave you of 3 Nephi 20:29-33 and I have a few other things that I would like to share.

Many of the prophecies in the scriptures about the return to the promised land address the house of Israel.  Some also refer to the return of the Jews to Jerusalem.  I would like to first talk about the house of Israel and its composition, and then I will discuss the parameters set by the Lord for the return of both the house of Israel and the Jews to the promised land and to Jerusalem.

Who is meant by the house of Israel?  Obviously those who descend from Jacob (Israel) son of Isaac son of Abraham are considered the children of Israel and would be included in the house of Israel.  However, the scriptures also specify another group that should be included in this appellation.  In the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 14:1-2 we read:

1  And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks--

2  And harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father; yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever; . . .

What this scripture makes clear is that it is not necessary to be a literal descendant of Jacob to be included as a member of the house of Israel.  The real key to the house is to believe in Jesus Christ and to keep His commandments.  Meredith has already shared scriptures that demonstrate that the literal descendants are not guaranteed a place in the house of Israel nor are they privileged to the covenants made to Abraham and his posterity unless they keep their side of the covenant, which is to worship and follow the Lord.  In Doctrine and Covenants 103:17 the Lord tells the Latter-day Saints in Ohio and Missouri that “… ye are the children of Israel, and the seed of Abraham, . . .”  This scripture, many teachings of LDS prophets and apostles, and the patriarchal blessings every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can receive teach us that we, as members, are numbered as members of the house of Israel and I would go further to say that only those who actually live according to the will of God are counted in the house of Israel and therefore they are the only ones to whom the prophesies and Abrahamic covenants apply.

This brings us to the restoration of Israel and Judah to Jerusalem and the surrounding lands.  I would like to examine the reference Meredith provided.  There are many other scriptures that indicate the same chronology of events, which I have listed in parentheses, but the reference in 3 Nephi clearly defines the process of this restoration.  In 3 Nephi 20: 29-33 (Isa 57:13, 1 Nephi 10:14, 2 Nephi 6:11, 2 Nephi 9:2, 2 Nephi 10:7) the resurrected Jesus Christ is speaking to the Nephites after he appeared to them on the American continent, and he says:

29  And I will remember the covenant which I have made with my people; and I have covenanted with them that I would gather them together in mine own due time, that I would give unto them again the land of their inheritance, which is the land of Jerusalem, which is the promised land unto them forever, saith the Father.

30  And it shall come to pass that the time cometh, when the fullness of my gospel shall be preached unto them;

31  And they shall believe in me, that I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and shall pray unto the Father in my name.

32  Then shall their watchmen lift up their voice, and with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye.

33  Then will the Father gather them together again, and give unto them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance.

The process Christ outlines for the restoration of His people to the land of promise includes:

1.     The gospel of Jesus Christ is preached to the children of Israel,

2.     The children of Israel will accept Christ and His gospel,

3.     God will restore them to the land of their inheritance after steps 1 and 2.

Orson Hyde dedicated Jerusalem for this very purpose, but currently, the Israeli government will not allow the gospel to be preached in Israel nor can any of its citizens join the Church in Israel.  There are certainly a handful of Israelis who have joined the Church outside of Israel, so I would concur that the process of which the Lord spoke is happening now.  You asked if I believe that God granted Israel the land and I will say that I do believe he promised the land to Israel--the people not the nation.  I do not think that the creation of the state of Israel is a fulfillment of prophecy, because the parameters the Lord has set have not yet been accomplished.  There is actually a great number of Jews who live in Israel who do not recognized the state of Israel because it was man made and they are waiting for God to restore them as prophesied.  Now, I do believe that God can work through man to accomplish His works and His promises, but I wanted to also show that there are many Jews that do not accept the Israeli state as it is currently constituted. 

In the scriptures, we read that God actually had the children of Israel remove the inhabitants of the land through force in order for them to inherit it.  The archaeological record shows that a mass expulsion of the Canaanites probably didn’t happen and that there was more intermingling than the scriptural record details (see William Dever, “Archaeology and the Emergence of Early Israel” and Did God Have a Wife).  Even if we disregard the archaeological record and assume the children of Israel did have to displace the Canaanites from their lands in order to receive it as an inheritance, the prophecies of the restoration of Israel to the lands of its inheritance mention nothing about displacing those who are on the land.  In the late 1800s, the first of four Jewish immigrations to Palestine occurred and the Jews, Arabs and Christians in Palestine lived in intermingled communities and were often business partners.  The Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate of Palestine after World War I did a lot to create the division between the Arabs and the Jews that still exists today.  What I am trying to say is that the great division between the Arabs and the Jews didn’t have to be as it is today in order for Israel to be restored to the land.  Plus, given everything that I have discussed thus far, I believe that Israel the people (those who follow the Lord) are still waiting to be restored to Israel the land.  For a Latter-day Saint, the one thing that comes close to the restoration of Israel to the land is the BYU Jerusalem Center, where members of the Church of Jesus Christ can worship, live and study in Jerusalem.

Your second question asked if it was wrong for Israel to inhabit the land the way it sees fit, if it was indeed granted to them by God.  I’m sure that it is clear that I don’t believe the state of Israel to be the entity to whom God promised the land, but even it were, I would still have to answer your question in the negative.  Again, the scriptures are very clear about this and there are multiple references.  When Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and captivity, they continually murmured against God.  Because they doubted His power to bring them into the land of Canaan, we learn in Numbers 14 that the Lord curses the children of Israel and causes them to wander in the desert for forty years before they are led again to the promised land.  In the same chapter we learn that the purpose of this curse was to ensure that all of those that murmured against and doubted the Lord would be dead before He led the rest of Israel into the promised land.  The children of Israel needed to be purified and live according to the will of God before He allowed them to enter the land.  We also know from the scriptures that the children of Israel were removed multiple times from the land because of their iniquities. 

The promise of the land is dependent on following the will of the Lord.  We read in Alma 50:20 “[b]lessed art thou and thy children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land.  But remember, inasmuch as they will not keep my commandments they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.”  The God in whom I believe and His son, Jesus Christ, have instructed us not only to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt 22:39), but to love our enemies as well (Matt. 5:44).  I don’t consider the Palestinians enemies of Israel, but I know that the Israeli state considers them to be just that.  I have already written about how Israel treats the Palestinians, so I won’t repeat it here, but I wanted to mention it again to show that the state of Israel does not follow the commandments of the Lord and thus has no promise to the land and no spiritual nor legal right to deal with the Palestinian territories as they see fit.  There are LDS members in Palestine that I would say have more claim to the promises of restoration to Jerusalem as the children of Israel, but some of them aren’t even allowed to go to Jerusalem to worship.  I believe the promises of the Lord will be fulfilled and one day these Saints in Palestine will again enjoy the right to return to Jerusalem.