Book of Mormon Challenge (Nov 17, 2018 - 11 of 12)

From: Jason Kemp
jasonmkemp@hotmail.com


Book of Mormon Challenge (Nov 17, 2018 - 11 of 12)

Reading starts Monday, November 19, 2018.


Please join us, starting Monday, November 19, 2018 at the Book of Mormon Reading Challenge (2018-2019) Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/243083412444025/


If you have anyone you would like to invite to participate, NOW is the time.
Once the 100-day reading challenge starts, it is harder to catch up, but it can be done.
Although there are no assigned readings on Saturdays and Sundays, it's much easier to be on board from the start.
The reading calendar is posted here: https://www.bomf.org and we will post the Scriptures, daily on the Facebook page.

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS and FAMILY to join this group.
We can do this together...bringing us closer to God and each other!

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Biblical Proof Number Nine
Ezekiel’s Prophecy of the Two Sticks

The prophet Ezekiel looked into the future and foresaw two nations and two records would some day be joined into one.
The so-called "parable of the two sticks" deals with Israel’s division into two kingdoms.

"…The word of the Lord came again unto me saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it.

For Judah and for the children of Israel his companions; then take another stick, and write upon it.

For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions; and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand."

- Ezekiel 37:15-17

Ezekiel is prophesying the restoration of Israel in these last days.

The Hebrew prophets deplore Israel’s separation, which occurred because of wickedness (compare Zechariah 11:24). The day Ephraim (with 9 other tribes) broke away from Judah, became a turning point in Israel’s history (Isaiah 7:17).
Since that day, Israel has remained divided into two "houses," or kingdoms (Isaiah 8:14).
Isaiah calls the division of his people an "open wound" that the Lord will heal as his coming to the earth draws nigh (Isaiah 30:26-27).

The two sticks coming together in the end time is a wonderful Biblical pronouncement.

The Lord says, "…When…two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also" (2 Nephi 29:8).
Of course, the sticks are really books and nations "running together."

The Smith Bible Dictionary states:
"A book in ancient times consisted of a single long strip of paper or parchment, which was usually kept rolled upon a stick, and was unrolled when a person wished to read it."
Back to the testimony of the two nations "running together."

In his prophesy, Ezekiel saw that each of the two kingdoms was to have a record, or stick.

The record of Judah is easily identified as the Bible "…for Judah [the Jews], and for the children of Israel his companions…"
The record of Joseph [records of the Lost Tribes of Israel] is connected with the prophesied Book of Mormon "…the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows…"

Recall, that in Deuteronomy 33;13-16 that America is Joseph's Land.

The prophet Lehi, with whom the Book of Mormon begins, was among those originally from the northern kingdom who had come, or whose forefathers had come, to live in the kingdom of Judah, for he was a resident of Jerusalem.

His family came to the American continents and the record they kept is a record of the descendants of Joseph in this hemisphere.
The record of Joseph - the Book of Mormon - has joined the Bible to serve as a dual witness of the divinity of Christ.

These two books [the Book of Mormon and the Bible] become one in the end time. A dual witness.

Hosea prophesied a marvelous thing:
"…I have written to him [Ephraim] the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing." --Hosea 8:12

God wrote some wonderful and great things to Ephraim in the Bible, but he wrote even more wonderful (strange) things to him in the Stick of Joseph.

For example…
Ezekiel describes the stick of Joseph as being of a dual nature:
1) the record is to be "the stick of Ephraim," and
2) it must also be "…for all the house of Israel his companions."

Then Ezekiel adds that the stick of Joseph is to be "…in the hands of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows."

Ephraim, of course, was the leading tribe among the tribes which were carried away captive by Assyria and which are now known as the Ten Lost Tribes.

Ephraim’s descendants will lead the way in the last days.
Jacob, the patriarch, lay dying and gave the following blessing concerning the last days:

"…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." - Genesis 49:1

Jacob was speaking of our day, the "…last days."
In the last days a book will come forth "out of the dust" that will speak of the regathering of the 10 lost tribes of Israel preceding the Lord’s return.
The Lord will choose the tribe of Ephraim as his evangelists to begin the gathering.
The Book of Mormon will be "in the hand of Ephraim" first, then flow to "all the house of Israel his companions."
To the other nine tribes.

There’s a great possibility, if you’ve embraced the Stick of Joseph in these last days, you’re an Ephraimite - one of God’s end time evangelists chosen to proclaim the end time message.