2
Ne 10:10 this land¡¦shall be a land of thine
inheritance
Joseph
Fielding Smith
¡°There
is strong presumptive evidence in the blessings given by Israel to his son
Joseph, and his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh, as recorded in Genesis, that
they were to inherit a land far from Jerusalem and become a multitude of
nations. Joseph was promised that his
inheritance should be to the ¡®utmost bounds of the
everlasting hills¡¯; (Genesis 49:26.) that he was ¡®a fruitful bough by a well whose branches run over the
wall.¡¯ (Genesis 49:22.) Moreover,
he was to receive a greater inheritance than his progenitors, who were given
the land of Palestine.
¡°The
Book of Mormon is the record of the descendants of Joseph who were led across
the ¡®great waters¡¯ to inherit this western land, which is designated as being
choice above all other lands. Surely
these blessings could not be realized in Palestine. Joseph and his sons did not become a
multitude of nations there; the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh did not receive
a more wonderful inheritance in Palestine than any other of the tribes of
Israel. There the chief honors were
conferred first on Benjamin and then on Judah.
Here in America all these promises were fulfilled when the descendants
of Joseph possessed the land given as their inheritance.
¡°There
are many references in the Bible to Zion, a land, or place, separate and
distinct from Jerusalem. Such passages
are found in the second chapter of Isaiah and the fourth chapter of Micah. It would be foolish to say that these
references to Zion were to the hill in Jerusalem where David dwelt. Through modern revelation the Lord has made
it known that the American continent is Zion.
It is to be on this land that the city Zion, the New Jerusalem, shall be
built.¡± (A Book of Mormon Treasury:
Selections from the Improvement Era, p. 191-2)
Joseph
Fielding Smith
¡°With
the translation of the Book of Mormon many of the descendants of Joseph were
made known. Who could have made that great discovery without a revelation from
the Lord? The Lamanites are of Israel. Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh. We
are informed that Ishmael, whose children joined the family of Lehi, was of
Ephraim. In this way children belonging to these two tribes were planted in
America. It is true that others also came, and it is just possible that the
Lord, remembering his promise to Joseph, sent with the Mulekites others of the
tribes of Joseph. At any rate, this land was given to them as their everlasting
inheritance. They have inherited it in the past. They will do so more fully in
the future.
¡°We
are told that there was a prophecy in the destruction of the coat of many
colors worn by Joseph. (See Gen. 37:31-35.) Part of it was preserved, and Jacob,
before his death, prophesied that as a remnant of the coat was preserved so
should a remnant of Joseph¡¯s posterity be preserved: ¡®And
he said, Even as this remnant of garment of my son¡¯s hath been preserved, so
shall a remnant of the seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be
taken unto himself, while the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish,
even as the remnant of his garment.¡¯ (Alma 46:24.)
¡°That
remnant now found among the Lamanites shall eventually partake of the blessings
of the gospel. They shall unite with the remnant which is being gathered from
among the nations and they shall be blessed of the Lord forever.¡± (The Way
to Perfection, p. 121)