Body: | The Mormon Church
The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints
Click to View
Is Ezekiel 37 a prophecy of the Book of Mormon?
Click to View
A. The official position of the Mormons is taken from their own writings:
"Ezekiel saw in vision the coming together of the stick of Judah,
and the stick of Joseph, signifying the Bible and the Book of Mormon...The
Nephites were then of the tribes of Joseph, and their record or 'stick' is
as truly represented by the Book of Mormon as is the 'stick' of Judah by
the Bible." The Articles Of Faith, p. 276, by Talmage
"Significantly, the joining of these two books of scripture as a
dual witness for Jesus Christ was foreseen more than twenty-five centuries
ago by Ezekiel 37." Read the book of Mormon it can change your life, p5,
Utah 1975
"Now granting that the Bible is the stick of Judah, where is the
stick of Joseph?...Until someone can explain where the record of Joseph is,
the Book of Mormon stands unrefuted in its claim to be the stick of
Joseph." A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, P66 LeGrand Richards.
B. What does Ezek 37:16-28 really say?
""And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, 'For
Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick
and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of
Israel, his companions.' "Then join them for yourself one to another into
one stick, that they may become one in your hand. "When the sons of your
people speak to you saying, 'Will you not declare to us what you mean by
these?' say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will take the
stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel,
his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and
make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand." ' "The sticks on
which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. "Say to them, 'Thus
says the Lord God, "Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the
nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and
bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the
land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of
them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into
two kingdoms. "They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or
with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I
will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned,
and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.
"My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one
shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and
observe them. "They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant,
in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons
and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince
forever. "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an
everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them,
and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. "My dwelling place also
will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
"And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when
My sanctuary is in their midst forever." Ezekiel 37:16-28
Does stick refer to a scroll or a tribe?
Hebrew word stick never refers to a book or scroll etc. God would
have used Hebrew, "sepherescroll & book" or "megillahroll or volume"
Even if it means scroll the B of M was written on Gold plates not a
wooden scroll!
Heb, "matteh", is translated branch, rod & is the most common root
for "tribe"
Similar to Num 17:1-3, where names of each tribe written on each
stick as symbol.
Mormons see the entire text of the Book of Mormon being written on
the stick! But what was to be written on the sticks? The Book of Mormon?
No! Ezekiel tells us the exact words, "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and
all the house of Israel, his companions." NOTHING MORE was to be written on
the sticks. This proves that Ezek 37 IS NOT a prophecy of the Book of
Mormon being written!!!
Who was to write on the sticks? Nephi? No! Only Ezekiel was told to
write on both sticks! If this is a prophecy of the book of Mormon being
written, then why is Ezekiel the one doing the writing??? For Mormonism to
be correct, the text should have said that Ezekiel would write on the stick
of Ephraim (the Bible) and Nephi to write on the stick of Manassah (the
book of Mormon). There is no room for the book of Mormon in Ezek 37!!!
God told only Ezekiel to write only this on the stick:
Mormons believe this is what was written on the stick:
Click to View
C. Ezekiel interprets the prophecy for us very much like Jesus did in His
parables
Example
Question
Answer
Jesus & Tares:
Mt 13
v36 "Explain to us the parable of the tares?"
v37 "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man."
Ezekiel & Sticks
v18 "declare what you mean by these."
v22 "I will make them one nation, with one king, no longer two nations"
The context discusses the reunion of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah which will take place under Christ, not the union of two different books.
C. Book of Mormon itself proves Ezek 37 cannot refer to Book of Mormon.
Is Lehi the son of Ephraim or Manassah?
Click to View Which is right? Click to View
According to Ezekiel 37:15f
According to Alma 10:2-3
Ephraim
Manasseh
Click to View
Click to View
Lehi
Lehi
Click to View
Click to View
Nephi
Nephi
Click to View
Click to View
Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon says: "And Aminadi was a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was a descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph who was sold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren" Alma 10:2-3.
Is Lehi the son of Ephraim or Manassah?
If Ephraim, then Alma 10 and the book of Mormon are not inspired
If Manassah, then Mormons falsely quote Ezek 37 to claim the "stick
of Joseph" prophecies the origin of the book of Mormon
Click to View
Go To Start: WWW.BIBLE.CA
|