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There is so much to still process.
I feel a great sense of love knowing God will reach out again to Israel and to us. Thank you for showing how central that theme is here and in your other work.
I did not realize that in the Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s most trying moment they remembered promises to Joseph and others. That speaks a lot. It sort of evokes Angel Moroni’s citation that the hearts of the children will turn to promises made to the fathers. It shows how essential such a “turn” might be and how it functions.
You mentioned that “ King Anti-Nephi-Lehi and his people assumed the Abrahamic covenant burden of brotherhood in a “Joseph”-like—and Christlike—way to an even greater degree than the Nephites had ever done”
I didn’t realize this but through the stripling warriors we see God helping the Nephites as Joseph saved Israel.
This depicts how God works and we can expect Him to reach out to Israel again through Joseph. Thank you. This helps me know I can trust God.
You are welcome, Martin! And thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the article.
Again, Bother Bowen, an excellent analysis and insights into this inspired text of the Book of Mormon. Your article elicits two related thoughts in my mind.
First, rom Jacob’s blessing to Judah:
“Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?” (Genesis 49:9)
The symbolism here is that the Lord is the lion and Judah is his young son. The “prey” is the food of the Lord which is the Bread of Life, or the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were under covenantal obligation to spread to the whole world for the remainder of all time (Abraham 2:11). However, Judah lay down on the job, and in the latter-days, who shall rouse him up? The answer is clear to us. Joseph.
Second, I think that the reconciliation of the Nephites and the Lamanites in the latter-days is more literal than we may realize. In Lehi’s blessing to his son Joseph, he stated:
“Wherefore, because of this covenant thou art blessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they shall hearken unto the words of the book. And there shall rise up one mighty among them [among the seed of Joseph, son of Lehi], who shall do much good, both in word and in deed, being an instrument in the hands of God, with exceeding faith, to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great in the sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much restoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy brethren.5 And now, blessed art thou, Joseph… and it shall be done unto thee even according to the words which I have spoken” (2 Nephi 3:23-25, editorial comment added).
The scripture is clear that the choice seer of the restoration would be a descendant of Joseph, son of Lehi, as well as those he was raised up amongst. Joseph Smith had no Native American ancestry. His known ancestry was all from the British Iles. Also, most of the early converts of the Church came from, or were descendants from, the British Isles and Continental Europe. The inference is that descendants of Joseph, son of Lehi, were brought to and scattered through that area by the hand of the Lord (There is considerable evidence to support this hypothesis that is beyond the scope of this post). It is probable that the majority of members of the Church whose ancestors came from Continental Europe and the British Isles, and whose declared patriarchal lineage is from Joseph, are in fact literal descendants of Lehi who were included in the designation of Nephites. Therefore, the reconciliation between the Nephites and the Lamanites may be more literal than we realize.
We Europeans may or may not be literal descendants of Joseph. Regardless, in Book of Mormon terminology we are Gentiles.
This matters because we read that Joseph will build a city in the last days (Ether 13:8). Using internally-consistent definitions within the Book of Mormon we see that it is the Latter-day Lamanites who will build this city and Gentiles (us) will help.
While we may or may not be actual descendants of Joseph, from the Book of Mormon perspective we are not.
I personally yet look forward to a group of people of whom Joseph is a type. I suppose the stripling warriors were Joseph-like to the Nephites since they saved them. I appreciated Bowen’s quote. “King Anti-Nephi-Lehi and his people assumed the Abrahamic covenant burden of brotherhood in a “Joseph”-like—and Christlike—way to an even greater degree than the Nephites had ever done.” I hope to see a repeat pretty soon.
Yes, the most important thing is to “be numbered” with Israel through covenants with God and then to live true to those covenants.
Thank you, Theodore! I’m glad you enjoyed the article. I agree that a lot of the “Joseph”-focused is directed to the descendants of Lehi, while not excluding those identified as “Joseph” in the last days. One need not embrace British Israelism to be identified as “Joseph.”