Remarks on the Book of Mormon

REMARKS ON THE BOOK OF MORMON.

By Elder William Gibson.

(Continued from our last.)

I shall next proceed, according to promise, to shew its harmony with the scrip­tures.

The greatest portion of the book is taken up with recording the history of a people, who are said to be a part of the seed of Abraham and descendants of Joseph. Do the prophecies contained in the Bible lead us to expect that the descendants of Joseph should ever go to America, become a great people, and receive revela­tions for themselves? We shall see; and in this investigation let the reader en­deavour to throw aside prejudice, and give the same amount of credence to the prophecies on this subject as is given to those concerning the first coming of the Messiah.

I shall commence with the 49th chapter of Genesis, 1st verse, “And Jacob cal­led unto his sons and said, gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days." Then, speaking of Joseph and his seed in the 26th verse, he says, “the blessings of thy father (Jacob) have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors (Abraham and Isaac) unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.” What, then, I ask, was the blessing that Abraham conferred on Isaac, and Isaac conferred on Jacob? it was the land of Canaan for an everlasting inheritance. If, then, Joseph’s blessing exceeded theirs so far that his inheritance should extend to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, and that according to the common sense must mean those most distant from the land of Canaan, would any of our wise men tell me where that inheritance can be if not in America? for there alone can we find the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills from the land of Canaan, or inheritance of his brethren: and as we could not reasonably expect that Joseph’s seed would in­herit all the land between the land of Canaan and the utmost bounds of the ever­lasting hills, we must expect, if the Bible be true, that the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills (from the inheritance of their brethren), Joseph’s seed should have for an inheritance peculiar to themselves.

I will next compare this with the blessing which Jacob gave the sons of Joseph, recorded in the 48th chapter of Genesis, from the 15th verse to the 20th. In the 16th verse he says, “let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth;^- and in the 19th verse, speaking of the younger son, Ephraim, he says, “his seed shall become a multitude of nations.” Now, then, comes the question, did the portion of them who remained with their brethren in the land of Canaan become a multitude of nations there? The answer is, no; then we must look from there to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, and if we do not find them as a multitude of nations there, then old Jacob was a false prophet. Let us then look to America, and what do we find; there we find a multitude of nations, having different languages, laws, governments, territories, and yet all evidently springing from one common stock. If we take this in connexion with Jacob’s blessing, we must come to the conclusion, if we believe the Bible to be the word of God, that they are the seed of Joseph,

I will next quote a few prophecies referring to where the seed of Joseph are to be found, when their brethren are gathered back to receive their inheritance in the land of Canaan. Zechariah, in the 10th chapter of his prophecy, from the 7th to the 11th verse, speaking of Ephraim, says verse 9, “I will sow them among the people, and they shall remember me in far countries;” and in verse 10, he speaks of bringing another portion of them from Egypt and Assyria, to Gilead and Leba_­non, for Ephraim was to have an inheritance with his brethren in the land of Canaan, besides that promised at the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills. The question then is, where are these far countries to be found, where the descendants of Ephraim are to remember the Lord, when their brethren are brought back from Egypt and Assyria; shall we search east, west, north or south for them? Hosea will tell us.—See Hosea chapter 11th, from the 9th verse; there, speaking of Ephraim, he says, verse 10 when He (the Lord) shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west; and in the 11th verse he speaks, like Zechariah, of another portion of them in Egypt and Assyria.

We have now found that a part of the seed of Joseph are in the west (that is, of course, west from Canaan), but then the next question is, how far west? Zechariah says it is a far country, and it would indeed be a far country if it be at the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills from the land of Canaan: but Zephaniah throws still more light on this subject, for in his 3rd chapter and 10th verse, he says, “from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering;” if, then, they were to be beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, how far did what was called Ethiopia in ancient days extend; for answer I will give an extract from the Edinburgh Evening Courant, of October 16, 1848. In an article there on the late discoveries in America the writer remarks—“Egypt, though strictly speaking an African power, yet her sway extended both in Africa and Asia, and above all was (in the African portion) comprehended in what was called the land of Cush or Ethiopia, in its early and most extended sense, including both Arabia and Africa from the Red sea to the banks of the Nile throughout its course.” If then, Ethiopia in its ancient sense included both Arabia and Africa, and a part of the dis­persed seed of Abraham are in the latter days to bring an offering to the Lord from beyond its rivers, which in the western part run into the Atlantic ocean, it must be from some place beyond that continent that this offering is to be brought, or it could never be beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; then look at your maps, my friends, and see if this could be fulfilled any where but in America.

Isaiah, in his prophecies, makes it still more plain by giving us the very form of this land beyond the rivers Ethiopia, from which an offering is to be brought to the Lord of Hosts in the last days—See Isaiah xviii. In the 7th verse he speaks of an offering to be brought to the Lord, and in the 1st verse be gives us a description of the land from whence it is to be brought. He says, “Woe (or as some old translations have it, “Ho”) to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.” Now, friends, spread out the map of America before you, and see if you could give a better description of its form than the land with wings, or in the form of wings. Let us see now what those few passages have proven. First, Zechariah says, a part of the seed of Ephraim are in far countries, where they are yet to remember the Lord. Hosea tells us these countries are in the west. Zephaniah tells us how far west, viz., beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; and Isaiah tells us that the land beyond the rivers of Ethiopia is a land with wings

Now, will all this apply to America? Let us see. First, it can with the strictest propriety be called a far country from Canaan; second, it is in the west from it: third, it is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; and fourth, it is a land in the form of wings; and I may add, it can also with strict propriety be said that there the ut­most bounds of the everlasting hills are found, taking Canaan as the starting point. Now, if that is not the land where Ephraim’s seed is to be found in the latter days, then let some of my wise friends find me (if they can) another land that will ans­wer in all things the description given by the prophets I have quoted, and if you cannot, then look to find the descendants of Joseph there, or deny your bible.

I will next refer to some prophecies to prove that Ephraim was to have a revelation for himself, apart from the bible, which is the record of Judah. Hosea viii, 9,—“For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.” On reading this verse it will be evident to every candid mind that the first clause of this verse ought to be the last clause of the eighth verse, as it could not be true that Ephraim was alone by himself if it referred to those who went to Assyria, for the ten tribes went there. But if a part of the tribe of Ephraim went to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, even to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, then they indeed would be alone by themselves. But when Ephraim was to be alone by himself, would God leave him without revelation and continue to give revelation to Judah? No. Read the twelfth verse of the same chapter. There God says, “I have written to him (Ephraim) the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.” Ezekiel speaking of these two records, viz., that of Judah, (the bible.) which has come to us through them, and the one God gave to Ephraim (the Book of Mormon) when he was away from his brethren, and as a wild ass alone by himself, says, they shall become one in the hand of the Lord to give Israel a knowledge of their fathers, and assist in the great work of the gathering.—See Ezekiel xxxvii, from the 15th verse.

Isaiah also speaking of this event tells us something concerning the coming forth of one of these records in the 28th chapter of his prophecy. When speaking con­cerning Ephraim and Judah, in the beginning of the chapter, he predicts a curse on the inheritance of Ephraim for their transgressions; and in the 14th verse he does the same concerning Jerusalem, or the “city where David dwelt," as it is called in the first verse of the 29th chapter. In the second verse we find two things spoken of: first Ariel, that the Lord said he would distress, and some other place that should be to Him as Ariel.

Now, as it would be contrary to the sense of the passage to say that Ariel would be as Ariel, or Jerusalem as Jerusalem, we must, therefore, conclude that he refers to the Valley of Ephraim, spoken of in the fourth verse of the 28th chapter as being cursed for the sin of Ephraim, as Jerusalem is said in the 14th verse to be cursed for the sin of Judah. If we say that the valley or inheritance of Ephraim shall be to the Lord as Jerusalem, then we can understand it, otherwise there is no meaning in the second verse of the 29th chapter. Taking this view of the passage, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth verses evidently apply to the inheritance of Ephraim. Read the Book of Mormon where it. gives an account of the destruction of that people, and see how exactly every word has been fulfilled. It can be said of them, but it cannot be so said of Judah, “that all these things, viz , thunder, earthquake, great noise, the flame of devouring fire, and tempest, came upon them in an instant, suddenly, and by these means the multitude of their terrible ones passed away like the chaff in a moment.”

Hear the account given in page 450 of the Book of Mormon, second European, edition,—“And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, in the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land. And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder; and there were exceeding sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land. And the city of Zarahemla did take fire, and the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea, and. the inhabitants thereof were drowned; and the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that in the place of the city thereof, there became a great mountain; and there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward. But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward, for behold the whole face of the land was changed because of the tempest, and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the exceeding great quaking of the whole earth; and the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough, and many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shook till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate. And there were Some cities which remained, but the damage thereof was exceeding great, and there were many in them who were slain, and there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind, and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away. And thus the face of the whole earth be­came deformed because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth. And behold, the rocks were rent in twain: they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams, and in cracks upon all the face of the land.”

Have not Isaiah’s words, then, been literally fulfilled on the inheritance of Ephraim? In the seventh verse of his 29th chapter, Isaiah begins to speak of the restoration of Israel. And Isaiah, like Ezekiel, speaks of some record or book that is to come forth to help to accomplish it.—See verse 18. Ezekiel speaks of two records, one of Ephraim and another of Judah. What book is here meant? the Bible or the Book of Mormon? Let us read the account given of its coming forth. In the eleventh verse we find that when this book comes forth it will be “as the words of a book that is sealed, which are delivered to one that is learned, saying to him, read this, I pray thee: and he (the learned man) says, I cannot, for it it sealed: and the book is delivered to one that is not learned, saying, read this, I pray thee: and he says, I am not learned.” Is this the bible that is here spoken of? If so, what must we think of our learned parsons, who go to college to learn, in order to under­stand it? Why, this book was to be a sealed book, both to the learned and to the unlearned, when it did come forth : and to be so it must have been written in a language that was lost to the world when the book came forth; now this is not the case with the Bible, but with the Book of Mormon it is, therefore God had to do a marvellous work and a wonder, causing the wisdom of the wise to perish and the understanding of the prudent to be hid, by making known through the instrumen­tality of the unlearned, the contents of that book that would teach the descendants of Ephraim concerning their fathers, and by showing the gospel in its purity, make the meek to increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men to rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, and through obedience to the same, the power of God be made manifest, and the ancient hissings of the gospel be restored, so that the deaf should hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind see out of darkness.

(To be continued.)