ARE WE OF ISRAEL?

BY ELDER GEORGE REYNOLDS

"Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the world with fruit."—Isaiah.

SECOND EDITION.

GEO. Q. CANNON & SONS CO. PRINTERS,
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH,
1895.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory—The promises of God to Abraham and his Posterity—The seed of Joseph in America—The Journey of the Ten Tribes Northward—Ephraim mixed with all Nations—Testimony of Prest. Brigham Young.

CHAPTER II.

Israel a Maritime Nation—Tyre and Sidon—The Lacedemonians claim relationship with Israel—The Ionians, Etrurians, Danes, Jutes, etc.—The various captivities of Israel and Judah—Media.

CHAPTER III.

The Land of the North—Jeremiah, Ether and Esdras' Testimonies—The Course of the Israelites Northward—The Jordan, the Don, the Danube, etc.—The Land of Maesia and Dacia-The Getae Zalmoxes.

CHAPTER IV.

Israel's Journey Northward—Esdras and Modern Revelation Compared-The Testimony of Jesus to the Nephites—Ephraim to be gathered from all Countries—The Coasts of the Earth—The Ancestors of the Latter-day Saints.

CHAPTER V.

The Origin of the Anglo-Saxons—Derivation of the Word Saxon—The Goths and Vandals—Overthrow of the Roman Empire—The Mythology of the Ancient Scandinavians—Baldur—Their early Literature.

CHAPTER VI.

The Numerous Identifications Considered—Religion and Laws of the Ancient Northern Races—Free Masonry—Language

CHAPTER VII.

Salvation a Gift to all—God's Covenant with Abraham—Proselytes—The Dispersion—Conclusion.

ARE WE OF ISRAEL?

"Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the world with fruit"—Isaiah.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory—The promises of God to Abraham and his Posterity—The seed of Joseph in America—The journey of the Ten Tribes northward—Ephraim mixed with all nations—The testimony of President Brigham Young.

The belief that the Latter-day Saints hold that the great majority of their number are of the house of Israel, and heirs to the promises made to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, like many other portions of their faith, has received the ridicule of the unthinking and the contempt of the ungodly. However, it is not our present intention to answer such, but to seek to adduce evidence outside of the sure word of modern revelation, to prove that the Latter-day Saints have good reasons, drawn from history and analogy, for believing the words of their Patriarchs who, in blessing them, pronounce them of the house of Abraham and of the promised seed of Jacob.

It is unnecessary to here quote all of the many gracious promises made by the great Father of us all to His friend Abraham, and to that Patriarch's immediate posterity, as they are cherished by the Saints as of more than earthly value, as pearls beyond all price, as sweet comforters in the day of trial, and as strong towers of defense in the hour of temptation; yet it may not be out of place to refresh our minds by the recital of a few of the most prominent, that we may better comprehend the ideas and statements that follow after.

It is recorded (north countries) that the Lord covenanted with Abraham, saying:

"As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee."

Again (Genesis xxii: 16-18.) Jehovah declares:

"By myself have I sworn saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and has not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

To Isaac and to Jacob were these glorious promises confirmed if possible in yet stronger wording. (Genesis xxvi: 4-10; xxviii: 14.) To the latter it was said:

"And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed."

The blessing of Jacob upon his son Joseph is doubtless so familiar to the majority of our readers, that we shall simply quote the latter portion:

"The blessings of thy father have prevailed, above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be upon the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brethren."

We will take but one step further in this direction. Jacob, in blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, said: (Gen. xiviii: 16.)

"Let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."

When Joseph reminded the aged Patriarch that his right hand was placed on the head of the younger boy, he declared:

"I know it, my son, I know it. He (Manasseh) also shall become a people. And he also shall be great. But truly his younger brother shall be greater than he; and his seed shall become a multitude of nations."

There are two points in these blessings that are very noteworthy. The first, that the seed of these Patriarchs should become innumerable, and grow to be a multitude of nations in the midst of the earth; the second, that in or through this seed all the nations and families of the earth should be blessed. With Abraham a covenant was made by the Most High, that he should become the father of many nations, and when we have laid aside the descendants of Ishmael—the Arabians and their fellows, who have grown into mighty multitudes, and not even counted the posterity of the sons of Keturah and of Abraham's other wives, yet in the one son Isaac the promise is renewed, his seed also is to multiply "as the stars of heaven." Once again we will divide the posterity, and leave unnoticed the dukes of Edom and the other descendant of Isaac's favorite son. We will speak alone of Jacob. To him was repeated the divine promise: "Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth;" and again,