3 Nephi 16

The Gathering of Israel

The Tenth Article of Faith

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

Bruce R. McConkie

“The Lost Tribes are not lost unto the Lord. In their northward journeyings they were led by prophets and inspired leaders. They had their Moses and their Lehi, were guided by the spirit of revelation, kept the law of Moses, and carried with them the statutes and judgments which the Lord had given them in age past. They were still a distinct people many hundreds of years later, for the resurrected Lord visited and ministered among them following his ministry on this continent among the Nephites. (3 Ne. 16:1-4; 17:4.) Obviously he taught them in the same way and gave them the same truths which he gave his followers in Jerusalem and on the American continent; and obviously they recorded his teachings, thus creating volumes of scripture comparable to the Bible and Book of Mormon. (2 Ne. 29:12-14.)

“In due course the Lost Tribes of Israel will return and come to the children of Ephraim to receive their blessings. This great gathering will take place under the direction of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for he holds the keys of ‘the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.’ (D. & C. 110:11.) Keys are the right of presidency the power to direct; and by this power the Lost Tribes will return, with ‘their prophets’ and their scriptures to ‘be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim.’ (D. & C. 133:26-35.)” (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 455-8)

Neal A. Maxwell

“…the splendid Book of Mormon advises that a third scriptural witness is yet to come from the lost tribes (see 2 Nephi 29:12-14). Its coming is likely to be even more dramatic than the coming forth of the second testament. Those who doubt or disdain the second testament of Christ will not accept the third either. But believers will then possess a triumphant triad of truth (see 2 Nephi 29:12-14). Were it not for the Book of Mormon, we would not even know about the third set of records!

“We do not know when and how this will occur, but we are safe in assuming that the third book will have the same fundamental focus as the Book of Mormon-‘that . . . their seed [too] ... may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer’ (3 Nephi 16:4). If there is a title page in that third set of sacred records, it is not likely to differ in purpose from the title page in the Book of Mormon, except for its focus on still other peoples who likewise received a personal visit from the resurrected Jesus (see 3 Nephi 15:20-24; 3 Nephi 16:1-4).

“Thus, in the dispensation of the fullness of times there is not only a ‘welding together’ (D&C 128:18) of the keys of all the dispensations, but there will also be a ‘welding together’ of all the sacred books of scripture given by the Lord over the sweep of human history. Then, as prophesied, ‘my word also shall be gathered in one’ (2 Nephi 29:14). Then there will be one fold, one shepherd, and one stunning scriptural witness for the Christ!” (Book of Mormon Symposium Series, First Nephi, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, p. 15)

Ensign Articles

Paul K. Browning, “Gathering Scattered Israel: Then and Now,” Ensign, Jul 1998, 54–61