I want to start this blog with a quote from Brigham Young. It will provide context and understanding of why the scripture following it is so important in the LDS church.
He says:
"The Book of Mormon ... declares that the Bible is true, and proves it; and the two prove each other true. The Old and New Testaments are the stick of Judah. You recollect that the tribe of Judah tarried in Jerusalem and the Lord blessed Judah, and the result was the writings of the Old and New Testaments. But where is the stick of Joseph? Can you tell where it is? Yes. It was the children of Joseph who came across the waters to this continent, and this land was filled with people, and the Book of Mormon or the stick of Joseph contains their writings, and they are in the hands of Ephraim."
-Brigham Young
Teachings of Presidents of the Church, 118-24,
taken from: lds.org
-Ezekiel 37:15-17
In my opinion, Ezekiel chapter 37:15-17 is one of the most important Biblical passages for Mormons because they believe Ezekiel is prophesying about the Book of Mormon. They believe "The stick of Judah (the Bible) and the stick of Joseph (the Book of Mormon) will become one in the Lord's hand." (Ezekiel 37 chapter heading, LDS Bible) In other words, the LDS church believes that Ezekiel is prophesying of a time when the world will have the Bible and the Book of Mormon and use them together. And since there exists the Book of Mormon and the LDS church uses it along side the Bible, they view this as a prophecy come true...thus proving Mormonism to be the one true religion.
I have heard this scripture referenced very frequently from the LDS pulpit. Time and time again missionaries, bishops, leaders, fathers, teachers, and the like have all proclaimed that Ezekiel's prophecy has come true! And, as a Mormon, this very much makes sense. If you read that passage and listen to the LDS leaders, it makes sense to draw this conclusion. However, I never really read the entire chapter of Ezekiel and looked at it as an unbiased reader. Meaning, I was told what this passage meant, and I took it as gospel (pun intended) and ran with it. So, that begs the question, is this truly what Ezekiel is talking about? Could the prophet be predicting the Book of Mormon? Well, let's take a closer look at just two points and see where we land.
Looking At Context
Ah, that pesky thing called context. At last we meet...again. Ok, so as with anything, we need to look at the entire chapter (sometimes even book) to fully grasp what is going on. That goes for just basically anything in literature. So, let's look at what Ezekiel was talking about. To do that, I will turn to a smarter man than I, Pastor Chuck. Charles (Chuck) Swindall is an evangelical Christian pastor from Texas. He runs the Insight For Living Ministries (www.insight.org) and on his site, he gives us a little background on the prophet Ezekiel. He writes:
"The book of Ezekiel takes its title from the priest of the same name, son to a man named Buzi. Ezekiel’s priestly lineage shines through in his prophetic ministry; he often concerned himself with topics such as the temple, the priesthood, the glory of the Lord, and the sacrificial system.
...Ezekiel lived among the Jewish exiles in Babylon at a settlement along the river Chebar called Tel-abib (Ezekiel 3:15), less than one hundred miles south of Babylon. ...Because he spoke to a people whom God had exiled due to their continued rebellion against Him, a majority of Ezekiel’s message communicates judgment for sins committed (1:1–32:32). However, like all the prophets, he also provided his people, now without a land of their own, some hope for the future (33:1–48:35).
...The book of Ezekiel pronounces judgment on both Israel and surrounding nations, but it also provides a vision of the future millennial kingdom that complements and adds to the vision of other Old and New Testament texts. Not only does the book present a striking picture of the resurrection and restoration of God’s people (Ezekiel 37), it also offers readers a picture of the reconstructed temple in Jerusalem, complete with the return of God’s glory to His dwelling place (40:1–48:35). This latter section of Ezekiel’s prophecy looks forward to the people’s worship after Christ’s return in the end times, when He will rule Israel and the nations from His throne in Jerusalem during His thousand year reign."
As you may or may not know, the Israelites had walked away from God and God let them be captured by the Babylonians. He eventually gave them the prophet Ezekiel to be His voice and provide hope and guidance. Looking at the chapter's leading up to 37, God has been telling Ezekiel what to say to His people. God basically goes on for several chapters and tells Ezekiel to Lament over this, prophecy of that, tell these people what I'm about to do, etc. God wants His people to know that He alone has power and authority over everything. He wants them to "know that I am the LORD" (Ezekiel 35:15b).
Then, in the first part of 37, God gives Ezekiel a vision, in which bones come to life by the power of God. "These bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will open your graves...and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord...I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it" (Ezek. 37:11-14). So God gives a vision to Ezekiel of the entire house of Israel being brought back into Israel and taking back their own land. And again, He does this so that everyone will know that He is God.
Then, to further illustrate his point, God tells Ezekiel to take two sticks and write on them 'For Judah' and 'For Joseph' and then join them together so that they are one stick. Then God says, when people start asking you what you are doing, tell them that I said, "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." Clearly, this is too specific to be a metaphor for books. Therefore, God is not talking about bringing Jews and Gentiles together because of two books being used together. Rather, God is talking about how the nation of Israel has been scattered and that He would one day bring them back together in their own land, so that they can be one nation again. He was talking about eradicating the division that His chosen people are going through.
This idea of "look what I can do and trust that I will do this other thing" also makes sense within the context of scripture and the nature of God. All throughout the Old Testament, God shows people His power and then, when He asks them to listen to Him, or trust Him, or follow Him, God makes them look back at how faithful, powerful, and reliable He's always been. Likewise, in Ezekiel, God shows Ezekiel his power with the bones. God brings bones dried from the sun back to life, which is impossible for mankind to even conceive, and then says He's going to do something else that people would believe to be impossible, like bringing the Israelites into one nation again. God says, "I am in the business of doing the impossible, and I'm going to do it so that you know I am God."
The conclusion we get from this is that God was not talking about books. Within the context, it doesn't really make sense. Sure, if you look at just those two verses you might think the Mormons are right, but not as a whole. Therefore, we must conclude that Mormon doctrine has gotten this one wrong.
Genealogically Speaking
The book of Genesis lays out the lineage of Abraham, the person that God told, "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice" (Genesis 22:18), obviously speaking of Jesus, but I digress. Anyways, Abraham married Sarah and they bore a son named Isaac. Isaac and his wife Rebekah had twin sons, Esau and Jacob, who later had his name changed to Israel (Gen 32:28). Israel (Jacob) had 12 sons between 4 different women. With Leah, he had named Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulum. With Bilha, he had Dan and Naphtali. With Zilpah, he had Gad and Asher. With Rachel, he had Joseph and Benjamin. This Joseph had two sons, named Manasseh and Ephraim. (See chart below)
Now, back to our passage, Ezekiel says God told him to write on one of the sticks "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim." So, with this supposed prophecy of the BoM coupled with our renewed knowledge of Abraham's descendants, we can deduce that the Book of Mormon would have to be written by people from the line of Ephraim. In other words, since the Nephites were the supposed writers of the BoM, then they would need to be descendants of Ephraim.
The Nephites come from the lineage of Nephi, whose father was Lehi. Now, if Ezekiel is indeed referencing the Book of Mormon, then Lehi's father would have to be Ephraim. Right? However, the Book of Mormon says that Lehi was a descendant of Joseph through Manasseh. "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 10:3). This is a major flaw in the teachings of the LDS church. Manasseh isn't even mentioned in this passage!
Now, the above section is all about the context of scripture. As you can see, even if the contextual argument is conceded (Sticks = books = Bible/BoM) the LDS argument does not hold water. We then realize that the Book of Mormon could not even be the fulfillment of this prophecy based of off preliminary requirements! All of this leads to the inevitable conclusion that Ezekiel was not talking about the Book of Mormon.
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Either way you slice it, the Mormon doctrines and teachings are wrong about Ezekiel. Mormons use this passage so often to prove their books as being God breathed, and it's just not a valid argument. It's just not. I don't know what else to tell you.
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