The Bible Foretell the Book of Mormon?
Hello everyone, I’m Danny. I was an active Latter-day Saint for 60 years and loved to study the scriptures including the Bible and the Book of Mormon. According to Joseph Smith the Book of Mormon is the word of God and the most correct book on earth. LDS leaders have stated that the truth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands or falls on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.
As a young LDS missionary – I was trained to believe and teach that the coming forth of the Book of Mormon was prophesied in the Bible. I didn’t realize at that time that in, an effort to link the Book of Mormon to the Bible, Joseph Smith misinterpreted and misapplied certain biblical passages to make that connection.
Later in life, as I carefully studied the Old Testament - I realized this teaching was completely wrong. And that this false teaching is being perpetuated today, by those who call themselves prophets and apostles and missionaries of the LDS Church.
Let me explain!
In, a devotional address to LDS college students in September 2017, President Russell M. Nelson invited young adults to study the Bible with Him.
Nelson said to those at the devotional - that “he is seeking to learn how the Bible predicted the coming of the Book of Mormon - especially Isaiah 29 and Ezekiel 37.”
Let’s see what Nelson was talking about! First, he mentions Isaiah 29.
It says here in Isaiah 29:4 “And thou be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.”
Latter-day Saints are taught to believe these words are descriptive of the Book of Mormon - which was translated from gold plates hidden in the ground by Moroni in 400 AD. That those gold plates would be uncovered by Joseph smith in 1827 and coming “out of the ground” with a “familiar spirit” to “whisper out of the dust” to people of our modern day.
That’s a very creative interpretation - however, Isaiah isn’t talking at all about a literal book - much less one that would come forth in the future. If you read the entire chapter of Isaiah 29, it is obvious that God is speaking of the spiritual blindness of the Jewish people resulting in the eventual destruction of Jerusalem. And being brought down to the ground, as if buried - Jerusalem would whisper from the dust.
Let’s read this verse in its context!
Isaiah 29:1-4 “Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, (a, reference to Jerusalem) the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee, round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.” In its context as a stern warning to the nation of Israel, does that sound like a book? Obviously no!
This was a pronouncement of impeding judgment against Jerusalem in an, attempt to get the nation of Judah to repent and return to God. This judgment was fulfilled in 700 B.C. when enemy forces captured Jerusalem and destroyed Solomon’s temple. Jerusalem had been humbled such - that their speech was “out of the ground” or “low out of the dust.”
In President Nelson’s devotional address, he – wrongly interprets a “familiar spirit” as a reference to the Book of Mormon being another witness of Jesus Christ. He said it will have a “familiar ring” to it. Oh my gosh! Nelson either has no clue what he’s talking about, or he is intentionally deceitful.
This should be very concerning to Latter-day Saints! You know why?
Because there is something they need to know: There are at least 15 Old Testament references to the phrase “familiar spirits” – and all of them deal with witchcraft or necromancy which is sorcery and black magic (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27; 1 Samuel 28:3-9; 2 Kings 21:6; 23:24; 1 Chronicles 10:13-14; Isaiah 8:19; 19:3; 29:4).
Therefore, when the Book of Mormon claims it has a “familiar spirit,” it is inadvertently claiming a relationship with the demonic. Familiar spirits are clearly rooted in occultism, and that’s why God condemns anything related to “familiar spirits.”
Listen to God’s warning to the Israelites who after being led out of Egypt by Moses were about to leave the desert wilderness and enter the promised land. Deuteronomy 18:9-12 “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” That passage just clarified that familiar spirits are an abomination to the Lord.
In view of this, what do you make of the claim by President Nelson - the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - that the Book of Mormon has a “familiar spirit?” If the Book of Mormon is supposed to be the word of God, why would God associate His word with demonic forces?
And, what about the “marvelous work and a wonder” spoken of when God says in, Isaiah 29:14 “Therefore, behold I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid”? Mormonism teaches that the Book of Mormon fits that description - as a “marvelous work and a wonder.” And President Nelson is proud of it.
BUT, when it is read in context, the “marvelous work and a wonder” refers to God’s work of vengeance on the ungodly - not his blessing upon the righteous. It will be a “wonder” because “the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be, hid.”
When you read the Bible, you realize that God’s “wonderful” and “marvelous work” are not positive in nature. For example, Moses called God’s plagues in Deuteronomy 28:59 “wonderful” and “great” meaning “amazing” and “terrible.”
I am taken back by the remarks of President Nelson - who like many LDS leaders before him - ignore the key passages in Isaiah 29, that set the historical stage for what follows. No biblical scholar see’s Isaiah’s warning as a prediction regarding a future book – especially the Book of Mormon.
Now, let’s examine the other passage President Nelson mentioned in his devotional address as biblical proof text for the Book of Mormon – Ezekiel 37:16-17 “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.”
Nelson commented, “When the bible and the triple combination were first bound in one book, we felt that this amazing prophecy had been fulfilled. Now, most of you have all, of those scriptures ‘bound as one’ in your telephone.” “My beloved brothers and sisters, we love the Holy Bible,” “It’s the word of God. And we love the Book of Mormon… Indeed, it is ‘another testament of Jesus Christ.’ These two books are companions. We hold them together – bound as one – as foretold long ago by prophets of God.” How ridiculous! And he calls himself a prophet?
We know that anciently, prophets of God wrote on papyrus – a paper material - and would roll it onto perpendicular wooden sticks – referred to as scrolls.
Mormonism teaches that Ezekiel 37:16-17 is speaking of two sticks or scrolls, which are identified as the Bible or the stick of Judah in one hand - and the Book of Mormon or the stick of Joseph in the other hand. Russell Nelson is claiming that these two records or sticks – Judah and Joseph - have now been joined together. He wants to connect it to the fulfillment of a prophecy found in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 3:12. I’ll let you look it up and read it for yourself. (“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.”)
If LDS prophets, LDS missionaries, and LDS members are going to use specific verses as a proof text - they had better know the background, setting, circumstances, and context of the scripture before doing that.
Because Scripture interprets Scripture, we learn - what these “sticks” in Ezekiel 37 are. The idea that the two sticks are referring to books - the Bible and the Book of Mormon is made IMPOSSIBLE by the verses that follow. Verse 22 “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.” Obviously the “sticks” are not two books - they were to represent “two nations”, or “two kingdoms.”
Historically, after King Solomon died, the nation of Israel split in two. The Southern Kingdom was known as Judah and the Northern Kingdom that was called Israel - or sometimes Ephraim. Israel was taken into captivity by Assyria, and Judah was taken into exile by Babylon.
Ezekiel 37:18-28 clearly shows the uniting of the “sticks” or nations is a picture of God’s restoring and reuniting His people, once again, in the land as a single nation.
Many times, in Old Testament history - sticks, rods, and staffs were used by the children of Israel to write their tribal names or genealogy upon. The Lord told Moses in Numbers 17:2-3 “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: write thou every man's name upon his rod. 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.” That is likely the case here in Ezekiel 37. Those “sticks” were “rods.”
Besides, wasn’t the Book of Mormon supposedly written on golden plates? You can’t wind metal plates around a stick! I’m just saying!
The Lord told Ezekiel precisely what to write on the two sticks - and it was not “the Bible” on one and the “Book of Mormon” on the other. If that were the case, then Ezekiel would be the author of the Book of Mormon. That doesn’t make any sense, does it?
Rather, Ezekiel only wrote a few words. He wrote or carved “Judah” on one stick or rod and wrote or carved “Joseph” and “Ephraim” on the, another stick or rod - holding one stick in one hand and the other stick in the other hand - he then transferred both sticks into his one hand - to illustrate the symbolism of the nations of Israel uniting as one again.
Besides, another major problem for the Book of Mormon is in Alma 10:3 - which claims the Book of Mormon to be a record of the descendants of Manasseh - NOT Ephraim as mentioned in Ezekiel.
ANYWAY, if Russell Nelson is going to call himself a prophet – he needs to be careful when applying a false interpretation to Scripture that is clearly misleading to those who want to believe the Book of Mormon was prophesied in the Bible.
This should be more weight - added to the proverbial Mormon shelf of questioning faith. The LDS Church is suffering from its own truth crisis. That is why it is experiencing decline in its membership as more and more Latter-day Saints wake up to the lies and deception within Mormonism.
Something to consider!
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Until next time – God Bless!