"Come to the Knowledge of Their Redeemer": the Book of Mormon's Message to the House of Israel
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Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2019-07-01 "Come to the Knowledge of Their Redeemer": The Book of Mormon's Message to the House of Israel Kevin Leon Clawson Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Clawson, Kevin Leon, ""Come to the Knowledge of Their Redeemer": The Book of Mormon's Message to the House of Israel" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 8568. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/8568 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. “Come to the Knowledge of Their Redeemer”: The Book of Mormon’s Message to the House of Israel Kevin Leon Clawson A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Bradley Ray Wilcox, Chair David M. Whitchurch Joseph M. Spencer Tyler J. Griffin Religious Education Brigham Young University Copyright © 2019 Kevin Leon Clawson All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT “Come to the Knowledge of Their Redeemer”: The Book of Mormon’s Message to the House of Israel Kevin Leon Clawson Religious Education, BYU Master of Arts One of the major themes in the Book of Mormon is the promises of the Lord to the house of Israel. Even before Lehi and his family left the promised land, Lehi and Nephi prophesied of the future scattering and gathering of Israel. After the family of Lehi arrived on the Americas, prophets continued to teach about God’s covenants with Israel. The destiny of the house of Israel was a major theme in the books of 1 and 2 Nephi, and also at the end of the Book of Mormon in the teachings of Jesus Christ, Mormon, and Moroni. In Lehi’s prophecy about the house of Israel in 1 Nephi 10, he prophesied that the future remnants of the house of Israel would be scattered and then defined how they would be gathered together again. They would do so by coming to the knowledge of their Lord and Redeemer (see 1 Nephi 10:14, emphasis added). When teaching about the house of Israel, many prophets taught similar principles as Lehi. Additionally, many prophets—including Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Samuel, Jesus Christ, Mormon, and Moroni—alluded to Lehi’s same phrase when they taught about the house of Israel during their own ministries. In the various sermons about the covenants of God with the house of Israel, several prophecies and principles were repeated. All of the major writers on the plates knew that the remnant of Israel would be scattered. They also taught that in the latter days, the gospel would go forth first to the Gentiles, who would in turn gather the scattered remnants of Israel. The instrument and tool by which they would be gathered would be the writings of the Nephite prophets – the Book of Mormon. Most important, the Gentiles and house of Israel would be gathered by coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Redeemer. The Book of Mormon prophets understood these teachings and engraved them on the plates to come forth to the world in the latter days. This thesis surveys the teachings of the prophets in the Book of Mormon about the gathering of the house of Israel. It also discusses the allusions and references to Lehi’s prophecy about how the Gentiles and house of Israel will be gathered – by coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, their Lord and their Redeemer. Keywords: Book of Mormon, Redeemer, house of Israel, covenant, remnant, Jews, Gentiles, scattering, gathering, Lehi Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Methodology ................................................................................................................. 5 Chapter 3: Review of Literature ................................................................................................... 10 Selected Writings of Scholars and Church Leaders .................................................................. 10 Chapter 4: Lehi and Nephi’s Prophecies of the House of Israel in 1 Nephi ................................. 18 The Structure of 1 Nephi ........................................................................................................... 19 1 Nephi 10 – Lehi’s Prophecy of the House of Israel ............................................................... 22 Lehi’s Influence on the Nephites’ Understanding of the Messiah ........................................ 24 The Nephites’ Understanding of the Gathering of Israel ...................................................... 26 1 Nephi 11-15 – Nephi’s Vision ............................................................................................... 29 Nephi’s Vision and Lehi’s Dream ......................................................................................... 30 1 Nephi 15 – Nephi’s First Expansion of Lehi’s Prophecy ................................................... 34 1 Nephi 19-22 – Nephi’s Sermon to His Brothers .................................................................... 37 Nephi Likening Isaiah ........................................................................................................... 40 1 Nephi 22 – Nephi’s Commentary on the Isaiah Chapters .................................................. 44 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 47 Chapter 5: 2 Nephi’s Focus on the Savior .................................................................................... 49 2 Nephi 1-4 – Lehi’s Last Sermon ............................................................................................ 51 2 Nephi 1 – The Promised Land and Obedience to the Lord ................................................ 52 2 Nephi 3 – The Prophecy of Joseph of Egypt ...................................................................... 55 2 Nephi 6-10 – Jacob’s Sermon as An Additional Witness of Christ ....................................... 57 2 Nephi 6-9 – Redemption through the Messiah ................................................................... 60 2 Nephi 10 – Jacob’s Prophecy about the Seed of Lehi ........................................................ 64 2 Nephi 25-33 – Nephi’s Plain Prophecy .................................................................................. 67 2 Nephi 25-30 – Nephi’s Sermon on Christ and the Book .................................................... 68 2 Nephi 31-33 – Nephi’s Writings on the Doctrine of Christ ............................................... 76 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 79 iii Chapter 6: Lehi’s Prophecy in Mormon’s Abridgment of the Large Plates ................................. 81 Context of Words of Mormon through 3 Nephi ........................................................................ 81 The Writings and Editing of Mormon ....................................................................................... 86 The Words of Mormon .......................................................................................................... 87 Mosiah 18 – The Conversion of the People of Alma ............................................................ 88 The Mission of the Sons of Mosiah ....................................................................................... 90 3 Nephi 5 – Mormon’s Personal Introduction ....................................................................... 92 Allusions to Lehi’s Prophecy from Other Prophets on the Large Plates .................................. 94 Alma 37 – Alma the Younger Passing the Plates to Helaman ............................................... 94 Alma 46 – Captain Moroni .................................................................................................... 96 Helaman 15 – Samuel the Lamanite ...................................................................................... 97 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 99 Chapter 7: Teachings About the House of Israel in 3 Nephi Through Moroni ............................. 100 3 Nephi 15-16, 20-23 – The Savior’s Teachings about the House of Israel ........................... 101 3 Nephi 15-16 – Jesus’s Law and Covenant Sermon .......................................................... 103 3 Nephi 20-23 – The Covenant People Sermon .................................................................. 106 Prophecies About the House of Israel from Mormon and Moroni ........................................... 117 Mormon’s Final Prophecies in Mormon 5 and 7 ................................................................. 119 Moroni’s Prophecies in Mormon 8-9 .................................................................................. 121 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................