na ing lineage in the Patriarchal Blessing A Few Words of Caution BY ELBERT A. SMITH HE GIVING OF BLESSINGS thoug~ important, is not th~ An address given before the Order of Evangelists during the Gene•·al most important function of Conference of 1948. L Tthe patriarch-who is also an evangelist. The blessing is not centive, also. At its. best, ancestral Concerning the Twelve Tribes of ~andator! to each person, as is bap­ pride may bring satisfaction and in- Israel tism. It 1s permissive. It should be centive. At its worst, it becomes ar­ sought out of an urgent, personal de­ This takes us back to the twelve rogance ~nd snobbishness. The Jews tribes of Israel, which is a broad sire and not because of any mass had a bigoted pride in tribe and subject. The Jews are of Israel, but appeal to go and get a blessing or even while plotting to kill Christ' not all Israel were or are Jews. The undue pressure from any other per­ boasted to him that they were of th~ tribe of Judah was one of twelve son. It is a very personal matter. seed of Abraham. They were re­ tribes. The naming of lineage in ~or is t~e naming of lineage the buked by him (John 8: 3 3_42) . ~h1ef ~unction of the blessing. That the blessing does not, as a rule, go Paul had cherished a great pride 1s o~tlonal with the patriarch, ac­ back of or outside of those twelve that he was "of the stock of Israel cording to the spiritual direction that tribes. of the tribe of Benjamin, an He: he ~ay have. The law says that the One of our church girls who mar­ brew of the Hebrews; as touching patna~ch may "if so led, point out ried a fine man of Japanese extrac­ the law a Pharisee."-Philippians the lmeage of the one who is tion said to me that she had noticed 3: 5: . As such, he persecuted the blessed."-Doctrine and Covenants that blessings given to Orientals Chnstia:is. Converted to Christ, by 125: 3. never .name lineage. That, I sup­ comparison, he counted all those No one should be urged to go to pose, 1s due to the fact that, in all things of lesser value. His joy and the patriarch merely to be told his probability, Oriental races back glory were first of all in Christ. He or her lineage. No one should be farther in history than the ~ame to see that for those "baptized disturbed if the 1'nP'' rrP. ; c tribes. I . ·~-u6~ ~ mto Christ," who had "put on n?t named m the blessing given. statement: ~hrist," there "is neither Jew nor 1here may be one of several good not so much concerned with where Greek," but all are "one in Christ" reasons. The chief functions of you came from as I am concerned (Ga~atians 3: 27, 28). Let us not the blessing are not to delve into the with the direction in which you are fall mto the error of overestimating past or to reveal in detail the future. going-and I think you are going the matter of naming lineage. they are to comfort, counsel, if neces~ in the right direction." sary admonish, sometimes rebuke, Some years ago I met a very intelli­ God made covenant with Abra­ encourage, bless, and-above all­ ~ent and fine-appearing representa­ ham and gave him certain wonderful nve of the Utah Mormon faith. help th_e person in all ways to con­ promises. His descendants were to form hi.s. or her life to the teachings Learning that I was a descendant of be as the sands of the sea in num­ Joseph Smith, founder of the church and Spmt of Christ. ber (not limited to Jews alone) . In The primary question is not, "Who ~1e seemed much impressed and shak: him and his seed should "all the na­ was rr:Y ancestor long, long ago?" mg my hand said, "One thing is tions of the earth be blessed." Many sure, Joseph Smith will take care of More. 1mp.~rtant and searching is the of the promises and prophesies made his own family throughout the eter­ quest10n, Am I now, today, bearing concerning Abraham and his pos­ wdl the name of Christ and keeping nal ages." I replied, "I not terity have been fulfilled. Others about that, but I am sure that his commandments that I may gro..:V are in process of being fulfilled. to be worthy of any inheritance that will take care of his own." The nations of the earth have been may come to me now or in the great Are you of Christ? That is the blessed through the seed of Abra­ question, first, last, and all the ham. From them came the law and With these qualifying thoughts in the commandments, the prophets of Ancestry . let us inquire ,.,,-..-.r~···~ and the apostles. Christ and his 'rh~ ere 1s· a certain· iustification for background of this custom of some­ and the Scriptures-includ- in family or tribal an- times na'.11~ng the lineage of the per­ cestry, if it is honorable-and an in- son receivmg a patriarchal blessing. JANUARY 22, !949 1 www.LatterDayTruth.org ing the Bible, the Book of Mormon, "He shall become a people, and he they were at the North Pole in the and the Doctrine and Covenants. shall be great." But of Ephraim he so-called "North Country." They In due time, Jacob, the grandson said, "His seed shall become a mul­ had the idea that up around the of Abraham, became the father and titude of nations." Many, when they North Pole there was a mysteriously progenitor of twelve tribal families. speak about the Hebrew peoples or warmed region where those tribes Before his death, Jacob gave a patri­ Israelites, think of the Jews. They found sanctuary and some day they archal blessing to his sons. Most out­ were only a part of the tribes of would be discovered; but the north standing were the blessings given to Israel. The children of Joseph, polar region has been crossed and Judah and Joseph. And those two Ephraim and Manasseh, were to be­ recrossed by airplanes, and that idea became the leading tribes. come nations, particularly so in the has been found to be without any We are all very well acquainted case of Ephraim. foundation in fact. There was an even more fantastic theory held by with the character of the blessing The "Ten Lost Tribes" given to Joseph. It figures promi­ some that there is a hole in the earth nently in our church belief. It was Following the exodus from at the North Pole and that the stated of him, "The blessings of thy Egypt, the twelve tribes of Israel twelve tribes were within the interior father hath prevailed above the were given their inheritances in the of the earth, mysteriously lighted blessings of my progenitors, unto Holy Land. The Jews are there yet and sheltered while they waited the the utmost bound of the everlasting -or again. After the death of King time of their return. That strange hills; they shall be on the head of Solomon, the tribes became divided notion is no longer advocated. Joseph." The blessing given to the and the ten tribes were known as the The theory seems much more rea­ progenitors of Jacob, so far as landed "Kingdom of Israel" in the north sonable that those tribes are lost estates were concerned, was limited of Palestine, while the Jews (Judah) only to the vision of the historian, to the Holy Land-a rather small but and at least a part of the tribe of and their posterity may be found in historically important bit of territory. Benjamin were known as the "King­ some of the countries of Europe, in The children of Judah, the Jews, are dom of Judah" in the south. There the British Isles, and in America. still fighting for poss~ssion of that seems to be some confusion about Those countries of Europe and the inheritance. The children of Joseph the course taken by the tribe of Ben­ British Isles might be spoken of as were to have an inheritance much jamin as a whole. The tribe may "north countries" as compared to greater, reaching to the "uttermost have been divided. In the Fir;t Palestine. Certain Scriptures indi­ bounds of the everlasting hills." Book of Kings, chapter 12, verse cate that those tribes of Israel had We learn through the Book of 20, it is stated: "There was none gone into the "North Country" and Mormon that children of Joseph in­ that followed the house of David, would return from the "North Coun­ herited ancient America, a vast ter­ but the tribe of Judah only.'' In the try" (as in Jeremiah 31: 8-10; and ritory far beyond that given to same chapter, verse 23, Judah and Doctrine and Covenants 108: 6). Jacob's progenitor, Abraham. Lehi, Benjamin are classed together, his­ The Books of Esdras were not a descendant of Joseph through torically they are so treated: "Ben­ accepted by compilers of the Bible Manasseh, with his family, founded jamin remained with Judah" (Jewish as "canonical," but they did often appear in older editions of the King an ancient civilization 111 the Encyclopedia, Volume 16, page Americas. 664). And: "Judah and Benjamin James version as among the so-called In Deuteronomy, chapter 33, we formed the southern kingdom under "Apocryphal" books. In the second :find that Moses also blessed the the name of Judah" (The Enduring Book of Esdras, there is a purported twelve tribes and particularly dwelt Word, by Christiana Salyards, page historical statement about the ten upon the glories which were to be 243). tribes that is of considerable 111- the inheritance of the children of About 719 B. C., Shalmaneser terest: Joseph and the richness of the land overthrew the Kingdom of Israel and Those are the ten tribes, which were they should inherit; he declared they carried the ten tribes captive into As­ carried away prisoners out of .their own should be the "ten thousands of syria. The Encyclopedia Americ.ana land in the time of Osea the king, whom Ephraim and the thousands of says of them, "to be lost forever." Salmanasar the king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the Manasseh." However, we and many other be­ lievers in Bible prophecy hold that waters, and so came they into another In Genesis 48: 13-19, the record land. But they took this counsel among is given as to how Jacob blessed his they were not lost forever. We be- themselves, that they would leave the grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, :figured and con- multitude of the heathen, and go forth (Joseph's sons). Ephraim was the tinue to figure in human history into a further country, where never man­ under divine direction. kind dwelt, that they might there keep younger but received the greater their statutes, which they never kept In in blessing. Of Manasseh he said, Where are the lost tribes? our their own land. And they entered into own history in years gone by, some Euphrates by the narrow passages of the ll (80) THE SAINTS' HERALD. few of our people speculated that river. For the Most High then shewed www.LatterDayTruth.org signs for them, and held still the flood Biblical Genealogy Simple races having contributed to the till they were passed over. For through population in the United States and Biblical genealogy was compara­ that country there was a great way to go, Canada. This mixing and crossing namely, of a year and a half: and the tively simple. It traced family lin­ of lines accounts for the fact that same region is called Arsareth. eage through men only and, as a rule, Then dwelt they there until the latter sometimes two members of one fam­ ignored the mothers. It was literally time ; and now when they shall begin to ily are named as of different lineage "our forefathers." For example, come, the Highest shall stay the springs in their patriarchal blessings. One Matthew, in the opening chapter of of the stream again, that they may go brother may have inherited some through: therefore sawest thou the mul­ his gospel, gives the genealogy of very marked characteristics from a titude with peace.-II Esdras 13: 40-47. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, father or grandfather, or mother or from Abraham down to Jesus, The advocates of the so-called grandmother, while the other brother though Joseph was only the foster "British-Israel" theory hold that (or sister) inherited marked char­ father. The genealogy of Mary he Anglo-Saxons are of Israelitish de­ acteristics from another line of de­ did not give at all, and she was the scent from the ten tribes, Ephraim scent: and thus one might be named mother of Jesus. Jesus inherited predominating. While we may not as of Ephraim and another of Ma­ nothing by blood relationship from agree with many of their conclusions, nasseh or even of Judah or Ben­ Joseph. All that Jesus inherited s?me of which are highly specula­ jamin; just as one brother may be biologically was from his mother tive, perhaps we can agree with one more German and another more and her side of the house. And it of their main propositions, as it ac­ English when there has been a mix­ must have been through her that he cords with the fact that by far the ture of German and English blood was of "the seed of David accord­ greater number of patriarchal bless­ in parentage. in~ to th~ flesh" (Romans 1: 3) and ings given in America and Britain In the naming of lineage, I have heir to the throne of his father that name lineage give it as of noticed that sometimes a statement David" (Luke 1: 32). With such a Ephraim. is expressly made that a person is precedent, maternal lines must be According to their theory which of the lineage of Ephraim; while in reckoned with in our lineage. accords with the passag~~ from another case the statement is made Esdras just quoted, the ten tribes that the person's inheritance shall be The Family Tree Like a Net made their escape in a body from with Ephraim; which may mean by Assyria and went north, crossing the It has been very well said that the appointment rather than by descent. Euphrates and on up beyond the ancestry of a given person, called Black Sea, turning to the West into the "family tree," is more like a net Tribal Lineage Mixed Northern and Central Europe, and than a tree, meaning that there are The Jews, during much of their up into the Scandinavian countries lines branching out in every direc­ history, observed strictly their laws (leaving colonies and groups be­ tion, crossing and recrossing. Each and traditions concerning marriage hind) . In different groups and at of us has one father and one mother and kept the tribal strain rather to it­ different times, they are· presumed to two grandfathers and two grand: self; but it was not always so even have made their way into the British mothers. Thus far it is rather sim­ in the Holy Land, nor is it Isles and their descendants eventual­ ple. One step back, and we have ~lways so in modern times. ly into British colonies and America. four great-grandfathers and four At the time when the Jews were (At least the theory may be worthy great-grandmothers. A step farther carried away into Babylon (the ten of thought and study.) we have eight of each, and then six­ tribes. having already been taken Apparently the proponents of this teen of each. The number increases away to Assyria) there were rem­ theory do not attempt to differenti­ mathematically and rapidly to an nants of the various tribes left in ate among the ten tribes as of the astonishing total if we push it back Palestine. (As late as in the time present but regard them as pretty far enough. In other words, there of the apostles, Luke mentioned a much merged "in Ephraim." They are blood streams coming into our woman in Jerusalem "of the tribe find place names in Europe and persons from many directions and of Asher" (Luke 2: 36). When the along the routes presumably taken from many ancestors. The various Jews returned to Jerusalem, those over the centuries that are claimed mothers in this ancestry probably remnants were still there. Smith's to be of Israelitish origin. As, for contributed as much and sometimes Bible Dictionary says of that situa­ example, Denmark is supposed to be more than the fathers to the char­ tion: "Danmark" or "Dansmark" from acteristics of their posterity. the tribe of Dan; and the name During and after the captivity, the "Anglo-Saxon" is claimed to be from "Melting Jews laid aside their prejudices, forgot "Isaac's sons." Genealogy their peculiar tribal pride, and became one nation .... and since that time no (See British-Israel Truth, by Archdeacon It goes without saying that Denis Hanan H. Aldersmith, chapter 6. The Covenant Publishing Company, London.) American lineage is mixed, so many JANUARY 22, !949 (81) 9 www.LatterDayTruth.org one of them is able to trace his lineage Abraham or Judah or Ephraim or Ephraim, and when the time comes that to any particular tribe, but may reason­ Benjamin-or even back to the "May­ the allotment shall be made by the di­ rection of Jesus Christ, you shall receive ably claim to have the blood of the whole flower." twelve mingled in his veins.-Edition of your inheritance with that tribe, and there 1892, page 50. occupy and carry out the purposes of God The Value of Naming Lineage in the great thousand years. If that be true, though Jews are This matter of naming lineage, predominantly of Judah, in a family Those patriarchs were evidently unless it be in the case of a Jew of presumably Jewish, there might be looked forward to the millennium Jewish name and physiognomy, or an outcropping in one member of the when they named the lineage of an perhaps an American Indian, would family of long latent but strong ra­ individual. I suppose there is scrip­ seem to be a matter known only cial traits marking him logically as tural support to their theology. For through the spirit of prophecy, or we being of Benjamin or some other example, in Matthew 19: 28, it is might say by the "discernment of one of the tribes, rather than of said that Jesus is to judge the twelve spirits.'' Judah. In such an event, two mem­ tribes of Israel. And in Revelation bers of that family might receive To me, it is not of primary im­ 7: 4, it is stated that of the twelve patriarchal blessings assigning them portance in the blessing. Obviously tribes, one hundred and forty-four to two different tribes. not, because it is optional with the thousand were sealed. The ten tribes, with Ephraim at evangelist. As it is stated in the There are many things in the their head, even in the days of the revelation, he may "if so led point prophecies concerning the future Northern Kingdom in Palestine, out the lineage of the one who is which are very speculative. This were never as zealous as the Jews to blessed." seems to be one of them on which we observe Mosaic laws and customs. reasons for naming the line­ do not have too much light. While In fact, they were quite given to age and the reasons giving it sig­ the Spirit may direct the patriarch in and dabbled in idolatry and nificance may be that in some cases particular cases to point out the line­ customs, and not only mar­ it is a comfort and an inspiration age of the individual which would among the heathen "gentiles" to people to feel that they are de­ indicate the inheritance to be re­ but crossed and recrossed tribal lines scendants of Ephraim or Manasseh ceived in the distant future, I think m which probably con­ or Judah or Benjamin, Personally, that the blessing is more concerned were carried I believe that the blessing is much with the needs of the individual now, the future in life here, to tion to enter way he is tance possibly obtainable of Omri and there­ now on, and the counsel given providences of God. to be the whole Northern King­ to him, the blessing concerning his John was content to leave many dom was poetically called Ephraim soul, the rededication-if we may things to the future. He said, "It (Hosea 5: 3, 4; Isaiah 7: 4; Jeremiah call it that-should be forward­ doth not yet appear what we shall 31: 17-20).-Volume 4, page 35. looking for the shaping of his own be, but this we know that at his rather than dwelling too much appearing we shall like him." that be true, it is possible that far distant past from Our main concern should be to be­ even when the lineage is ancestors have emerged. come like Christ and trust the future nantly of Ephraim, there may be a in his hands. The man who accepts strong admixture of other racial Significance of Naming the Christ as his Savior is of his spirit which may crop out in a family in Uneage and whole-heartedly obeys the gos­ one member and not in the others. pel; he may feel absolutely confi­ So one may be called of Judah, matter, however, may have a dent that, in the due time of the one of Ephraim. forward-looking phase to it-look­ Lord, he will receive the finest in­ You will observe by now that forward to the return of Israel, heritance he is able to enjoy and matter or lineage tribes thereof, and the to receive. is not such a simple thing as it might of inheritances to appear to be. All through history, tribes during mil- the isolationist seems to be

"The enemy of the best is not the worst, it is the have a if we of us, accept anu- lineage right , l J into the family of God, you thing but the best, we are sinning." -W. Wallace Smith. !O (82) THE SAINTS' are his and belong to the tribe of www.LatterDayTruth.org