MORMON DISTORTION
OF EZEKIEL 37
SCRIPTURES TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT
The LDS claims that Ezekiel 37:15-20 proves that the Book of Mormon and the Bible are one in God's hand. But they have only managed this feat by completely ignoring the subject matter, which is the reunification of the nation of Israel (that had previously split into two separate kingdoms). Ezekiel was using the illustration of two sticks being joined together, to demonstrate that these two opposing factions would once again become united into one kingdom, with one king, under God.
WORD SUBSTITUTION
Besides the abovementioned forms of deception, the LDS has gone even further in their distortion of the scriptures, by substituting words that have completely different meanings to those used by the Bible.
In an attempt to make this passage say what they want it to say, the LDS maintains that the two sticks mentioned in Ezekiel are two scrolls; the scroll of Judah representing the Bible and the scroll of Ephraim representing the Book of Mormon. But the Hebrew word "ates," which is translated as "stick" in Ezekiel, is never, ever translated as "scroll." The word "scroll" is represented by a different Hebrew word altogether, "ciphrah," which can also be translated as a roll or a book.
Furthermore, the Book of Mormon hadn't come into existence at that stage, and nor had the Bible. In fact, the canon for the Old Testament hadn't even been completed, as many of its books hadn't yet been written. And the writing of the New Testament was still way ahead in the far distant future.
So why would Ezekiel be telling Old Covenant Jews, who were longing for their homeland and mourning about their captivity in Babylon, that the Bible and the Book of Mormon (two books that nobody knew about and that hadn't yet come into existence), were as one in God's hand; especially when the subject matter of this passage of scripture is solely their return to their homeland and the reunification of their beloved Israel? What on earth has the Book of Mormon to do with that?
THE BACKGROUND TO EZEKIEL 37
It is a historical fact that in Old Testament times the tribes of Israel used rods of some sort, on which the names of their tribes or tribal ancestors were written. So each tribe was represented by their own rod. (Some primitive tribes of today still follow this practice.)
In Numbers chapter 16:3 we read about the Israelites rebelling against the priesthood being reserved solely for the bloodline descendants of Levi, through the line of Aaron. They felt they were just as entitled to hold the priesthood as were Aaron and his descendents. (The LDS feels the same way today and consequently ignores the biblical qualifications for the priesthood.) But God clearly and firmly proclaimed His will in this matter, regarding the priesthood being only through the bloodline of Aaron, as follows:
After Solomon's death in 931 BC, Israel was split into two factions, commonly called the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms (see 1 Kings 12). The Southern Kingdom, that became known as Judah, consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and included the Levites (i.e. Levi's descendants through the line of Aaron.) The remainder of the tribes followed Jeroboam in forming the Northern Kingdom, sometimes called Israel.
The book of Ezekiel refers to the Southern Kingdom of the divided Israel as Judah, and the Northern Kingdom as Ephraim, because their most prominent ancestors were Judah and Ephraim respectively. To complicate matters further, in those days it was the done thing to make their roots known by using the name of a famous ancestor. And so Ezekiel also links Joseph to the Northern Kingdom because Ephraim was his offspring. (Ezekiel is talking here about Joseph of the coat of many colours who was sold into slavery in Egypt, but became second only to Pharaoh, not Joseph Smith — see Genesis 48:17-20). This passage in Ezekiel 37 has nothing to do with either Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon: It is concerned only with the reunification of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms into one nation.
Because of their unfaithfulness and idolatry, God had permitted both kingdoms to be conquered by their enemies, and most of the inhabitants had been dispersed to other lands by their captors.
SELECTIVE QUOTING
In the passage under discussion Ezekiel prophesies that these two previously opposing kingdoms will become unified and will once again become one great nation with one king, under God. However, the LDS has only quoted a part of Ezekiel's message, deliberately omitting three important verses immediately following their quote, which clearly give a different meaning to this passage and thereby invalidate the false interpretation the LDS has given to it. This dishonest strategy is known as "selective quoting."
Here is the passage in its entirety, including the last three verses that were deliberately omitted by the LDS:
If we take the above passage in its correct context, and ask ourselves who it was addressed to, we will discover that Ezekiel was sent by God to minister to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, and to encourage them not to give up hope. The message he gave them was that the day would come when the dispersed tribes from both the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms would return to their homeland, and would once again be united in one Kingdom under one King. And to illustrate their reunification he used two sticks, one representing the Northern Kingdom and the other the Southern Kingdom, which he grafted together so that they became as one.
Not once does Ezekiel mention or even allude to the Book of Mormon or the Bible. His subject matter is the reunification of the two split kingdoms.
CONCLUSION
As we can now clearly see, this passage of scripture has nothing whatsoever to do with the Book of Mormon or any other book. The subject under discussion is solely the reunification of Israel.
Furthermore, seeing that the Book of Mormon actually denigrates the Bible in several places by saying that only a fool would consider it to be adequate as a spiritual guide (2 Nephi 29:6, 10), and in other places it contradicts the Bible (2 Nephi 25:23, c/f Ephesians 2:8-9), no true prophet of God would ever link the two as being one in God's hand.
The writer once spoke to a Mormon missionary who had been so discouraged by the way that the LDS constantly distorts the Bible in order make it fit in with their own unbiblical doctrines and teachings, that he had decided not to bother to read it at all in his private capacity. His argument was that anybody can make the Bible say whatever they want it to. In his mind this had invalidated it as a book of any standing, and he genuinely felt that reading it would be an utter waste of time.
However, his statement that anyone can make the Bible say whatever they want it to, is only true if one is prepared to use dishonest methods in order to make it do so. And to treat God's holy word in such a disrespectful way shouldn't even enter our minds. There is only one true meaning to what the Bible says, and if it is read sensibly and prayerfully, with a humble, teachable and honest heart, taking into account the background, the immediate context and the subject matter, as well as the "big picture" of the whole of the rest of the Bible, that one true meaning will become evident.
The whole object in reading the Bible should be to discover what God is saying to us and what we can learn from it, not to seek out devious ways and means of distorting it so that it appears to back up our own ideas.
The following link leads to an easy to read, fully referenced and informative article, that reveals the truth about the Book of Mormon, its origins and its purposes:
Copyright 2007 by Mormonism and Biblical Truth. All rights reserved.
The LDS claims that Ezekiel 37:15-20 proves that the Book of Mormon and the Bible are one in God's hand. But they have only managed this feat by completely ignoring the subject matter, which is the reunification of the nation of Israel (that had previously split into two separate kingdoms). Ezekiel was using the illustration of two sticks being joined together, to demonstrate that these two opposing factions would once again become united into one kingdom, with one king, under God.
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.By deliberately cutting their "proof text" quote short, and omitting the explanatory verses 21 and 22 that immediately follow, the LDS has convinced their members that Ezekiel meant something completely different to what he was actually talking about, which was that the two opposing sections in Israel would become one. Nowhere did he mention either the Bible or the Book of Mormon. His subject matter was solely the reunification of Israel.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all (Ezekiel 37:19-22, KJV)
WORD SUBSTITUTION
Besides the abovementioned forms of deception, the LDS has gone even further in their distortion of the scriptures, by substituting words that have completely different meanings to those used by the Bible.
In an attempt to make this passage say what they want it to say, the LDS maintains that the two sticks mentioned in Ezekiel are two scrolls; the scroll of Judah representing the Bible and the scroll of Ephraim representing the Book of Mormon. But the Hebrew word "ates," which is translated as "stick" in Ezekiel, is never, ever translated as "scroll." The word "scroll" is represented by a different Hebrew word altogether, "ciphrah," which can also be translated as a roll or a book.
Furthermore, the Book of Mormon hadn't come into existence at that stage, and nor had the Bible. In fact, the canon for the Old Testament hadn't even been completed, as many of its books hadn't yet been written. And the writing of the New Testament was still way ahead in the far distant future.
So why would Ezekiel be telling Old Covenant Jews, who were longing for their homeland and mourning about their captivity in Babylon, that the Bible and the Book of Mormon (two books that nobody knew about and that hadn't yet come into existence), were as one in God's hand; especially when the subject matter of this passage of scripture is solely their return to their homeland and the reunification of their beloved Israel? What on earth has the Book of Mormon to do with that?
THE BACKGROUND TO EZEKIEL 37
It is a historical fact that in Old Testament times the tribes of Israel used rods of some sort, on which the names of their tribes or tribal ancestors were written. So each tribe was represented by their own rod. (Some primitive tribes of today still follow this practice.)
In Numbers chapter 16:3 we read about the Israelites rebelling against the priesthood being reserved solely for the bloodline descendants of Levi, through the line of Aaron. They felt they were just as entitled to hold the priesthood as were Aaron and his descendents. (The LDS feels the same way today and consequently ignores the biblical qualifications for the priesthood.) But God clearly and firmly proclaimed His will in this matter, regarding the priesthood being only through the bloodline of Aaron, as follows:
Numbers 17:1-18:1, KJVThe above scriptures clearly indicate that rods of some sort were used to represent each of the tribes of Israel.
17:1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods [i.e. the 12 tribes of Israel]: write thou every man's name upon his rod.
3 And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers [Levi was Aaron's father].
4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.
5 And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.
6 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes [leaders] gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
7 And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.
8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.
9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.
10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.
11 And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he.
12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.
13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?
18 And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
After Solomon's death in 931 BC, Israel was split into two factions, commonly called the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms (see 1 Kings 12). The Southern Kingdom, that became known as Judah, consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and included the Levites (i.e. Levi's descendants through the line of Aaron.) The remainder of the tribes followed Jeroboam in forming the Northern Kingdom, sometimes called Israel.
The book of Ezekiel refers to the Southern Kingdom of the divided Israel as Judah, and the Northern Kingdom as Ephraim, because their most prominent ancestors were Judah and Ephraim respectively. To complicate matters further, in those days it was the done thing to make their roots known by using the name of a famous ancestor. And so Ezekiel also links Joseph to the Northern Kingdom because Ephraim was his offspring. (Ezekiel is talking here about Joseph of the coat of many colours who was sold into slavery in Egypt, but became second only to Pharaoh, not Joseph Smith — see Genesis 48:17-20). This passage in Ezekiel 37 has nothing to do with either Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon: It is concerned only with the reunification of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms into one nation.
Because of their unfaithfulness and idolatry, God had permitted both kingdoms to be conquered by their enemies, and most of the inhabitants had been dispersed to other lands by their captors.
SELECTIVE QUOTING
In the passage under discussion Ezekiel prophesies that these two previously opposing kingdoms will become unified and will once again become one great nation with one king, under God. However, the LDS has only quoted a part of Ezekiel's message, deliberately omitting three important verses immediately following their quote, which clearly give a different meaning to this passage and thereby invalidate the false interpretation the LDS has given to it. This dishonest strategy is known as "selective quoting."
Here is the passage in its entirety, including the last three verses that were deliberately omitted by the LDS:
Ezekiel 37:15-23, KJVIt always aids our interpretation of any particular section, if we bear in mind what we have learned from the rest of the Bible concerning the history and the culture of the people to whom that passage was addressed. And an important part of good interpretation is to work out who the message was addressed to, and what it meant to them at that time in history. Our adherence to this method will keep us from letting our imaginations run riot. And what is more, it is the only sensible way to arrive at a correct interpretation.
15 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
16 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:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. (Editor's emphasis)
If we take the above passage in its correct context, and ask ourselves who it was addressed to, we will discover that Ezekiel was sent by God to minister to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, and to encourage them not to give up hope. The message he gave them was that the day would come when the dispersed tribes from both the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms would return to their homeland, and would once again be united in one Kingdom under one King. And to illustrate their reunification he used two sticks, one representing the Northern Kingdom and the other the Southern Kingdom, which he grafted together so that they became as one.
Not once does Ezekiel mention or even allude to the Book of Mormon or the Bible. His subject matter is the reunification of the two split kingdoms.
CONCLUSION
As we can now clearly see, this passage of scripture has nothing whatsoever to do with the Book of Mormon or any other book. The subject under discussion is solely the reunification of Israel.
Furthermore, seeing that the Book of Mormon actually denigrates the Bible in several places by saying that only a fool would consider it to be adequate as a spiritual guide (2 Nephi 29:6, 10), and in other places it contradicts the Bible (2 Nephi 25:23, c/f Ephesians 2:8-9), no true prophet of God would ever link the two as being one in God's hand.
The writer once spoke to a Mormon missionary who had been so discouraged by the way that the LDS constantly distorts the Bible in order make it fit in with their own unbiblical doctrines and teachings, that he had decided not to bother to read it at all in his private capacity. His argument was that anybody can make the Bible say whatever they want it to. In his mind this had invalidated it as a book of any standing, and he genuinely felt that reading it would be an utter waste of time.
However, his statement that anyone can make the Bible say whatever they want it to, is only true if one is prepared to use dishonest methods in order to make it do so. And to treat God's holy word in such a disrespectful way shouldn't even enter our minds. There is only one true meaning to what the Bible says, and if it is read sensibly and prayerfully, with a humble, teachable and honest heart, taking into account the background, the immediate context and the subject matter, as well as the "big picture" of the whole of the rest of the Bible, that one true meaning will become evident.
The whole object in reading the Bible should be to discover what God is saying to us and what we can learn from it, not to seek out devious ways and means of distorting it so that it appears to back up our own ideas.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:20, KJV)You are welcome to contact the editor at reply@bibtruth.com
The following link leads to an easy to read, fully referenced and informative article, that reveals the truth about the Book of Mormon, its origins and its purposes:
The Book of Mormon Exposed
Copyright 2007 by Mormonism and Biblical Truth. All rights reserved.