After prophesying of the rebirth of Israel with imagery of dry bones coming to life again, Ezekiel foretells the unification of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah using two sticks of wood as an object lesson. He tells us that the Lord instructed him to provide this object lesson.
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:
Ezekiel 37:16-17
And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
The Lord told Ezekiel that when his people asked the meaning of the sticks, he was to assure them that God will gather His people out of all nations and bring them home. There will no longer be two nations, but one with David as their king, they will live in peace, and they will have God’s tabernacle among them as a sign that He is with them (Ezekiel 37:18-28).
Even though Book of Mormon authors didn’t have Ezekiel’s words, they spoke of the gathering of Israel in strikingly similar words. For them, the gathering and unification of the people would be coupled with the gathering and unification of their scriptures. Lehi, for example, quoted this prophecy from the patriarch Joseph:
Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.
2 Nephi 3:12
Whereas Ezekiel would write labels on sticks, Joseph prophesied that his descendants and the descendants of Judah would create separate records which would “grow together.” The clarity provided by the combination of these records would lead to the peace Ezekiel foretold.
Nephi spoke of the unification of his people’s words (the Book of Mormon) with the record of the Jews (the Bible), and he added that other records would also be combined with them.
For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it.
2 Nephi 29:12-14
And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.
And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever.
The amalgamation of the writings will coincide with the integration of the people. Nephi recognized that his people represented just a small branch of the house of Israel, who had been scattered to “all nations of the earth,” so the gathering of the tribes of Israel would be much more expansive than the uniting of his people (descendants of Joseph) with the Jews (descendants of Judah).
When Jesus visited some of Nephi’s descendants in the land of Bountiful, He made it clear to them that they were not the only people he would visit. “Now I go unto the Father, and also to show myself unto the lost tribes of Israel,” He announced, “for they are not lost unto the Father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them” (3 Nephi 17:4).
President Dallin H. Oaks recently reaffirmed the promises in these Book of Mormon passages:
We believe that the Lord will eventually cause the inspired teachings He has given to His children in various nations to be brought forth for the benefit of all people. This will include accounts of the visit of the resurrected Lord to what we call the lost tribes of Israel and His revelations to all the seed of Abraham.
“The Gospel of Jesus Christ Is for All,” October 2026 general conference
We live in the day foretold when righteousness is sent forth out of heaven and truth out of the earth “to sweep the earth as with a flood, [and] to gather out [the] elect from the four quarters of the earth.”
According to President Oaks, the testimony of multiple nations will not only coincide with but will also precipitate the prophesied gathering of Israel.
Today I will be grateful for the universality of God’s love. I will appreciate the combined testimony of the Bible and the Book of Mormon and will look forward to other scripture which will assist with the gathering and uniting of people from all nations.
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