The Gathering(s) of Israel and the Ultimate Set-up

An article for my LDS readers with this WARNING: If you believe our Church/Leaders are infallible then this article may offend you!

~18 minute read (v2.3)

A very disappointing Stake Conference

            For many years I have been concerned about what has become known in some circles of Latter-day Saints as the 'pulpit narrative.'  The definition of this basically comes from Isaiah, wherein in Isaiah's day and the End-time (judging from world happenings, we must be in the beginnings of that period), those that consider themselves to be the Lord's people would receive instruction, by rote, receiving milk only from their ecclesiastical leaders:

Isaiah 28 {Gileadi translation}

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts[?]

10 For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

12 To whom he said, This [is] the rest [wherewith] ye may cause the weary to rest; and this [is] the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

This connotation is negative, not a positive one like you may hear described in Church. Here the Lord withholds His greater knowledge from those who are only accustomed to the milk fed to us by Church leaders.  This continual bombardment of the 'milk' causes the weary to fall backwards, become snared and broken, and taken away from us.  Any long-time or multi-generational members reading this whose children have left the Church?  These limited teachings and our failure to study the scriptures and get our own revelation cause us to be referred to here by the Lord as 'this people,' not His people.

            Earlier this year (2023) I attended the adult session of our stake conference.  Little did I know that the pulpit narrative I have grown to recognize and tolerate somewhat would make a change to outright minimization of greater teachings.  The stake presidency first counselor and the visiting General Authority Seventy, Marcus B. Nash, would combine to not only severely mislead the Saints, but to also poison them to having their hearts and spirits open to learning the greater things on the topic presented, the Gathering of Israel.  Ultimately, the congregation was taught that the gathering is simply the missionary program of the Church.  That they were properly indoctrinated in this was demonstrated by the visiting authority quizzing the congregation on what they had learned in the meeting to that point, where it was affirmed by members that the gathering is simply the missionary program of the Church.  In the teaching process we were instructed that there are some who would complicate the matter beyond this 'simplistic' definition, that the missionary program is indeed the only literal gathering of Israel.

            This narrative totally overlooks the true meaning of our Tenth Article of Faith, "We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory."

Also overlooked are the words of Jeremiah (spoken of twice in his record):

Jeremiah 16:14-15: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, the Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

Jeremiah 23:7-8: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

These references are the doctrine of the Church.  As Dr. Stephen E. Robinson observed,

B. H. Roberts, a General Authority of the LDS church, summarized the issue [what comprises Church doctrine] perhaps as well as anyone has: 'The Church has confined the sources of doctrine by which it is willing to be bound before the world to the things that God has revealed, and which the Church has officially accepted, and those alone. These would include the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price; these have been repeatedly accepted and endorsed by the Church in general conference assembled, and are the only sources of absolute appeal for our doctrine.'  --Robinson, Stephen E., "Are Mormons Christians, (1991) Bookcraft, p.14 {emphasis added}

When consulting past writings of Church leaders and Church publications, we find that this issue of confusion about the gathering(s) is not new.  What is new is that the prophecies of Isaiah are now, in the End-time, and as prophesied by Nephi, beginning to be thoroughly understood, and in response the Church appears to be mounting an attack against those that would try to teach and educate their fellow Latter-day Saints to the 'meat' of the gospel contained therein.  Here are some examples:

[The Jewish leaders of Christ's time] were intent upon keeping the people's interest alive in a future Messiah, in a Christ who was to come, but not one who was amongst them. We are very loath to accept and believe that which we do not want to believe, and the world today does not wish to believe that the coming of the Christ is near at hand, and consequently all kinds of subterfuges are invented for explaining away the plain words of scripture. We rejoice in simplicity. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is won—fully simple... There is a tendency among men to explain away what they don't wish to understand in literal simplicity, and we, as Latter-day Saints are not entirely free from the taint of that tendency. Prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled are by many of us made the subjects of hypothesis and theory and strained interpretation. We read that one of the characteristic signs to precede the second advent of Christ shall be the bringing forth of the tribes that have been lost to history, led away where men have not yet found them, and we are told that they shall be brought forth with a strong hand by the power of God and shall come unto Zion and receive their blessings at the hands of Ephraim. But some people say that prediction is to be explained in this way: A gathering is in progress, and has been in progress from the early days of this Church; and thus the "Lost Tribes" are now being gathered; but that we are not to look for the return of any body of people now unknown as to their whereabouts. True, the gathering is in progress, this is a gathering dispensation; but the prophecy stands that the tribes shall be brought forth from their hiding place bringing their scriptures with them, which scriptures shall become one with the scriptures of the Jews, the holy Bible, and with the scriptures of the Nephites, the Book of Mormon, and with the scriptures of the Latter-day Saints as embodied in the volumes of modern revelation.  –Talmage, James E., General Conference Reports, April 1916, p. 130, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1916 {emphasis added}

…We discover from the declaration by the Prophet to the people of the world [D&C 87:6], that the cleansing of the earth of much of its iniquity, by blood, fire, earthquake, pestilence and the display of angry elements, was to assist in preparing the way for the return of the lost tribes of Israel. We should not be confused. The call for the gathering of scattered Israel had been proclaimed three years earlier and the missionaries had been hard at work gathering into the fold those of Israel who had scattered themselves among the Gentiles. The great day of the coming of the lost tribes would be after the preparatory work had been accomplished in the destruction of wickedness in very great measure, and the way prepared in part for the coming of the Lord also and the building of his Holy City and Temple.  –Smith, Joseph Fielding, Church History and Modern Revelation, Vol. 2, p.141, 1946, The Council of the Twelve Apostles {emphasis added}

Besides the reference to erroneous teachings about the gathering existed in the earlier years of the Church, in more recent years that has continued [that Jeremiah's prophecy quoted earlier is fulfilled in the missionary efforts of the Church].  See, for instance, Nyman, Monte S., The Church News, Jeremiah’s Prophetic Warning Rejected By People of Jerusalem, 12/31/1994, and somewhat President Nelson's October, 2020 General Conference address, "Let God Prevail."

            So, how can we reconcile the scripture narrative with the pulpit narrative on this important topic?  I believe the answer lies in distinguishing the types of gatherings referred to on the two sides.

            When the northern Ten Tribes were dispersed, and then Judah and Benjamin, they became assimilated into the Gentile nations of the world, so that today there are few known purely ethnic tribes existing beyond Judah and identifiable descendants of Lehi.  Thus, the largest mixture of ethnic tribes and Gentiles is known as Ephraim.  Here is a great description of the importance of Ephraim in the End-time:

The assimilation of the tribe of Ephraim among the earth’s peoples brings to mind the blessing of Abraham. The Lord promises Abraham that in him all families of the earth will be blessed (Gen. 12:3; 18:18). The Lord confirms that promise on Isaac and Jacob (Gen. 26:4; 28:14), heirs of Abraham’s birthright. Ephraim receives this birthright through Jacob because Ephraim’s father, Joseph, had politically become an Egyptian, a “Gentile.” In the birthright blessing, Jacob pronounces that Ephraim’s offspring will become “the fulness of the Gentiles.” Jacob’s patriarchal blessing of Ephraim, reclaiming him from Gentile status, serves as a type and shadow of a latter-day reclamation. Modern patriarchal blessings, too, declare converted Gentiles to be of the house of Israel, many of them, if not most, through Ephraim.

From Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim and its fulfillment, we see how the Lord blesses mankind. All nations of the earth have intermingled with Israel, more especially with Ephraim. All nations, by right of lineage, therefore, may be blessed with the blessings of Israel. That point is important because the Lord has ordained no salvation or plan of salvation outside of the covenant with his people Israel. The blessing promised on all the earth’s families is a blessing of salvation, both temporal and spiritual, that passes to mankind through Israel. –Gileadi, Avraham, The Last Days, p.72 (PDF version) {emphasis added}

            The great gathering that Jeremiah tells us of is to be an ethnic gathering, while the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been performing a gathering of assimilated Israel since it was restored in 1830 (these two types of gathering are not to be confused with the early gathering to Zion of Latter-day Saint converts first to the areas where the Church was centered, and then to Stakes of Zion in their own communities).  This ethnic gathering will involve even finer hunting than the historic missionary effort of the Church. 

Jeremiah 16:16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

And thus shall Israel come: not a dark corner of the earth shall remain unexplored, nor an island of the seas be left without being visited; for as the Lord has removed them into all corners of the earth, he will cause his mercy to be as abundantly manifested in their gathering as his wrath in their dispersion, until they are gathered according to the covenant. He will, as he said by the prophet, [Jer. 16:16] send for many fishers and they shall fish them; and after send for many hunters, who shall hunt them; not as their enemies have to afflict, but with glad tidings of great joy, with a message of peace, and a call for their return.  Cowdrey, Oliver et al editors, Messenger and Advocate, Vol. 1, No. 7, (April 1835), Kirtland OH

            The gospel is to be preached throughout the entire world before the end comes.  But there remain areas and peoples where the Church is not allowed to teach.  While the missionary program of the Church is of vital importance to make the higher covenants of the Lord available for all people to accept, enter into, and to live them, I believe it is likely that soon world conditions will deteriorate rapidly necessitating the calling home of all missionaries before they are not able to travel safely home (the beginnings of the 'day' of vengeance long promised).  But all people willing to come to the Church of the Firstborn will continue to be hunted, but by a special group of missionaries, ordained (and set-apart) by angels, and then sent out to all pockets of the Earth to gather in as many as will:

D&C 77:11 Q. What are we to understand by sealing the one hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel--twelve thousand out of every tribe?

  A. We are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn.

            This group of missionaries will be 288,000 plus strong when you consider that they are the Kings and Queens of the Gentiles (spoken of in Isaiah 49 and 1 Nephi 21), likely ethnically identified to their specific tribes via the latter-day reclamation spoken of earlier.  So miraculous will be this gathering that those who know of it/witness it personally will no longer refer to how great Moses' gathering was, but how great this last gathering is surely destined to become.

The Cloaked Disparagement of the Isaiah Institute and All Church Members Searching Isaiah

            Thus, we have the confusion between the Gathering of Assimilated Israel, and the Gathering of Ethnic Israel.  Thus, we see Jacob, the Church, fulfilling the warnings of Isaiah and Nephi of the challenges our leaders will render to us in the last of the last days, the End-time.

            A major part that is left out of these gathering scenarios is another denial of the Church in our day, that being the coming of the Lord's latter-day servant.  Spoken of in many parts of Isaiah and the Book of Mormon, he was also prophesied of by Joseph Smith (and is likely the person spoken of in D&C 85).  In fact, his expected appearance was once a very common belief among members of the Church that started waning in the 1970s or before.  My mother told me much about the servant when I was a young priesthood holder nearing priest age in 1970.  It was after David O. McKay (the president of the Church when she joined) had passed away that she related how many thought that he was the servant spoken of by Joseph Smith.  Today I surmise that she did not know how hidden the Lord would make him, so hidden that it would be very unlikely that he would be known in the Church by very many until the Lord calls him forth. There were few scriptures at that time understood to indicate his mission and coming forth.  I believe it likely he will be a type of an LDS mission president to the 144,000 high priest missionaries and their spouses (besides all the many other prophecies concerning his entire End-time mission).

            Speaking somewhat of the condition of the Gentiles, and more especially the majority of members of the Church (remember, Ephraim is considered Gentile), a Hebrew scholar in the Church has said,

In a sense, you could say that we have been set up to reject the words of Christ that his endtime servant brings forth, to be trodden down and torn in pieces by those lions (3 Nephi 21:9–14), unless we open our eyes to these basic truths from Isaiah.  Gileadi, Avraham, Becoming Kings and Queens of the Gentiles, Hebron Books (2019) {available from the Isaiah Institute}, p.32 (PDF version)

These are some of the latter-day paradoxes that the Lord allows us to have so that we will search out the answers to them from Him, and come closer to Him.

Who perceives that unraveling paradoxes, ambiguities, layered meanings, and embedded mysteries in the scriptures presents a deliberate test God has prescribed to see who among his people will pay the price of searching their meaning as Jesus commands—meeting the challenge of figuring things out for themselves—and who will live with the sanitized interpretations, the shallow dogmas, the precepts of men created by those who “suppose they know of themselves” (cf. 2 Nephi 9:29)? Isn’t worshiping God with our “minds” an inherent part of the process?  --How Isaiah Impacts Gospel Theology, p.61 (PDF version) {also available from the Isaiah Institute}

            The Church seems to be expending the money of the Saints to purposely mislead them away from a greater knowledge of the things that the Lord promised we would have in the last days.  With the vast resources that Jacob possesses, I would call these misleading teachings on the gathering of Israel to be the Ultimate Set-Up, and one that we are contributory to ourselves in multiple ways.

Photo credits: Pixabay Alexas_Fotos and Ronsa06

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Appendix
I am including here some quotes that I did not use in the article that I considered and found quite interesting.  I share them here for others who might have an interest.

"Ironically, appearances of true worship persist in every stage of apostasy. Laying stress on outward observances is often a symptom of alienation from the true God. When false gods are the order of the day, people feel the need to scrupulously preserve the exterior of true worship. People who reach this point confuse righteousness with actively congregating and religiously performing ecclesiastical duties. In such worship, institutional convention may become the enemy of spontaneity, resulting in dead, stereotypical devotion."  –Gileadi, Avraham, The Last Days, p.12 (PDF version)

"But the[re] has been a great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation… Even the Saints are slow to understand I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God, but we frequently see some of them after suffering all they have for the work of God will fly to p[ie]ces like glass as soon as any thing Comes that is Contrary to their traditions, they Cannot stand the fire at all, How many will be able to abide a Celestial law & go through & receive their [exaltation] I am unable to say but many are Called & few are Chosen."  Words of Joseph Smith, 21 January 1844, p.361

Definition: A “Covenant with Death” (berit ’et mawet) (Isaiah 28:15, 18)—a purposeful decision in favor of evil over good—epitomizes reliance by Jehovah’s reprobate people on human “counsel” or “schemes” (Isaiah 29:15; 30:1).298 Parties to that covenant include the ecclesiastical and political leaders of Jehovah’s people (Isaiah 28:7, 14–19; 30:1). These scoff at Jehovah’s living oracle (Isaiah 28:14, 22–23; 29:20; 30:2)—his voice and mouth (Isaiah 28:23; 30:19, 2). Consequently, a “flooding scourge” (sot sotep) overruns them (Isaiah 28:17–19) when Jehovah brings “utter destruction” (kala) upon the whole earth (Isaiah 28:22; cf. 29:20; 30:17).  –Gileadi, Avraham, Literary Message of Isaiah, p.147 (PDF version)

"Those who fondly suppose that 'the gates of hell shall not prevail' is a guarantee of the security of the church on this Earth are inventing a doctrine diametrically opposed to the belief of the early church. If there was one point on which the primitive saints and their Jewish contemporaries saw eye to eye, it was the belief that Satan is 'the prince of this world,' nay, 'the god of this world.' It is here that men are under his power, and here that he overcomes the kingdom of God by violence.”  –Hugh Nibley, Mormonism and Early Christianity, p.107

If one cares to inquire, the combination of historical, political, and ecclesiastical elements that factor into the Jewish rejection of Jesus poses a reality that might be difficult to untangle for one who chooses to categorically judge the Jews of Jesus’ day.  Such a person might do better to compare parallels between the unbelievers of Jesus’ day with the believers in him today for how the Jews of that age looked upon Jesus. Both in that day and ours, for example, many of God’s people felt locked into a politically correct narrative that didn’t tolerate a spirit of inquiry. –Gileadi, Avraham, How Isaiah Impacts Gospel Theology, pp. 59-60 (PDF version)

"[Individual a]postasy may be accelerated by a faulty assumption that scripture or Church leaders are infallible [i.e that they are firmly believed to be infallible but found to be otherwise, causing apostasy; author]. Joseph Smith taught that "a prophet was a prophet only when he was acting as such" (HC 5:265). He also declared he "was but a man, and [people] must not expect me to be perfect" (HC 5:181). Neither the Church nor its leaders and members claim infallibility.

"Above all, the Church affirms that its members should seek personal revelation to know the truth and live in tune with the spirit of God. Those who have not done this may drop by the wayside when their faith is challenged or when difficulties arise."  –Ludlow, Daniel H. (Editor), Encyclopedia of Mormonism, entry for "apostate," (1992), p.59

"Because Church members are entitled to divine confirmation of prophetic declarations, there is no teaching among Latter-day Saints of "prophetic infallibility." As Joseph Smith taught, "a prophet was a prophet only when…acting as such" (TPJS, p. 278). Prophets have personal and private opinions, and they are "subject to like passions," as all people are (see James 5:17; Mosiah 2:10-11). However, when acting under the influence of the Holy Spirit in the prophetic role, "whatsoever they shall speak…shall be the will of the Lord" (D&C 68:3-4; see Scripture).  –Ibid, entry for "following the brethren," p.520

"Usually the critics insist that the Latter-day Saints must defend as doctrine everything that Joseph Smith or Brigham Young or any other General Authority ever said. But the LDS concept of doctrine simply cannot be stretched this far. The Latter-day Saints allow that sometimes the living prophet speaks in his role as prophet and sometimes he simply states his own opinions. This distinction is no different than that made in some other Christian denominations…"  --Robinson, Stephen E., Are Mormons Christian?, (1991), p.15

V2 additions: President George Q. Cannon suggested an explanation, too, when he stated, ‘Perhaps it is his own design that faults and weaknesses should appear in high places in order that his saints may learn to trust in him and not in any man or men’ (Millennial Star, 53:658, 1891).  And this would parallel Nephi’s warning to put not your ‘trust in the arm of flesh’ (2 Nephi 4:34).” (Ezra Taft Benson, An Enemy Hath Done This, 290.); --Gileadi, Avraham, Endtime Prophecy, p.412 (PDF version)

"At fault are God’s covenant people, whose apostasy is the catalyst of God’s Day of Judgment: 'The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants: they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, set at nought the ancient covenant' (Isaiah 24:5). 'When the windows on high are opened, the earth shall shake to its foundations. The earth shall be crushed and rent; the earth shall break up and cave in; the earth shall convulse and lurch. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, sway back and forth like a shanty; its transgressions weigh it down, and when it collapses it shall rise no more' (Isaiah 24:18–20).  Only a few 'gleanings' survive (Isaiah 24:13–16)."  Gileadi, Avraham, Windows on the Prophecy of Isaiah, p.197 (PDF version) {emphasis mine}

48:6 But you have heard the whole vision; how is it you do not proclaim it? "The 'whole vision' or 'vision of everything' (hazut kullah) refers to the vision of the end from the beginning Isaiah received at his second prophetic commission (Isaiah 40:1–6; 46:10). That vision, Isaiah embedded in his book as a message for the end-time (Isaiah 30:8). At fault are Jehovah’s end-time people for not proclaiming or even understanding it (Isaiah 29:11): 'Have I not made it known to you from of old? Did I not foretell it, you being my witnesses?' (Isaiah 44:8). Their failing to serve as Jehovah’s witnesses places them among the blind and deaf (Isaiah 29:18; 42:18–20; 43:10, 12; 44:7–8)."  Gileadi, Avraham, Apocalyptic Commentary of the Book of Isaiah, p.192 (PDF version) {emphasis mine}

"In setting out these final scriptural types of idolatry, I first wish to remind the reader that their existence cannot, nor ever will, constitute grounds for our growing disaffected with the Church.  The great paradox, the test the Saints endure in our day, surely consists of remaining true, while all around people indulge in idolatry. Brother Hugh Nibley serves us as an inspiring example of such faithfulness. Although he recognizes both the great good and the many evils in the Church, he stands aloof from all disaffection. He scrupulously maintains the fine line between discontent—often voiced openly to inspire us to higher things—and malcontent. From him, malcontent, a sure path to apostasy, receives not so much as a whisper.

"Still, we cannot ignore certain parallels, even though they might be painful to us. We then would not learn our lesson but would exemplify the very folly about which the scriptures teach. Seeing these parallels surely must not cause us to point the finger at others. Rather, it should help us take the attitude, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone” (compare John 8:7). Especially where aberrations exist within a people’s leadership, whether political or religious, we should remember that such tend to be symptomatic of the general condition: our leadership reflects what we ourselves are, both at our best and at our worst. Those who blame the country’s and the Church’s leaders for various problems, therefore, put the cart before the horse. Problems begin at the grassroots level and work their way up. Although they may then manifest themselves on higher levels, to the chagrin of the people who spawned them, that does not mean a people’s leaders alone are at fault or even that all leaders are implicated. It does mean that society as a whole suffers the effects of a people’s unrighteousness, and such unrighteousness in this case includes idolatry." –Gileadi, Avraham, The Last Days, pp.33-34 (PDF version)