Having considered the causes that led the outcasts of Israel to determine to seek a home in a new and uninhabited land, we may be excused if we endeavor to follow them in fancy in their journey northward. We have no way of accurately3 estimating their numbers, but if the posterity4 of all those who were carried into captivity5 started on this perilous6 journey, they must have formed a mighty7 host. Necessarily they moved slowly. They were encumbered8 with the aged9 and infirm, the young and the helpless, with flocks and herds10, and weighed down with provisions and household utensils11. Roads had to be made, bridges built, and the course marked out and decided12 by their leaders.[A] Inasmuch as they had turned to the Lord and were seeking a new home wherein they could the better serve Him, they were doubtless guided by inspired leaders, who, by Urim and Thummim, or through dreams and visions, pointed13 out the paths ahead. Perhaps, as in the days of the deliverance from Egypt, a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night guided their footsteps; no matter the means, the end was accomplished14, and slowly and gradually they neared the frozen regions of the Arctic zone. The distance in a direct line from the conjectured15 crossing of the Euphrates to the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, would be about 2,800 miles, or a seven months' journey, averaging fifteen miles a day. But according to Esdras, one year and a half was consumed in the journey, which is an evidence that they were encumbered with families and cattle, who could only travel slowly and for whom many resting places had to be found where they could recuperate16. It is highly probable that, like modern Israel in its journey westward17 to the valleys of Ephraim, they planted temporary colonies by the way. Where the weary rested and crops were raised for future use.
The length of the journey had its advantages as well as its drawbacks. The slow rate at which they traveled enabled them to become acclimatized to the rigors18 of the frigid19 zone. We must recollect20 that we are dealing21 with a people cradled in the burning sands of Egypt, and who, for many generations, had dwelt in one of the most balmy and genial22 climates on this globe. Their temporary sojourn23 in the bleaker24 regions near the Caspian Sea had partially25 prepared them for that which was to come, but it required time to give them the capability26 to endure the rigors of a northern climate, as they were, by ancestry27 and location, distinctively28 children of the sunny south.
[Footnote A: Jesus distinctly states to the Nephites, that these tribes were led "by the Father out of the land."]
No doubt, as the hosts of Israel advanced, the change in the climate, the difference in the length of the days and nights, the altered appearance of the face of the country, and the newness, to them, of many of its animal and vegetable productions, struck them with amazement29, perhaps with terror, causing some of the weak-kneed to falter30 and tarry by the way. These defections probably increased as the changes became more apparent and the toils31 of the journey grew more severe. But what must have been their sensations when they came in view of the limitless Arctic Ocean, if the climatic conditions were the same as those which exist today; of which, however, there is perhaps some reason to doubt. No matter whether they drew nigh unto it in winter or in summer, the prospect32 must have been appalling33 to the bravest heart not sustained by the strongest and most undeviating faith in the promises of Jehovah. Supposing they reached the northern confines of the European continent in summer, they were in a land where the snow is almost perpetual, and scarcely else but mosses34 grow. Before them was a troubled ocean of unknown width, every step they advanced took them further north into greater extremes of cold. Well might they question, if so little is here produced for the food of man and beast, how will it be yet further northward? Must we perish of hunger? If, on the other hand, they approach the frozen shores of this unexplored waste of waters in the gloom of the long night of an Arctic winter, with the intense cold freezing to their very blood, their feelings of dread35 must have been yet more intense. No wonder if some turned aside, declared they would go no further, and gradually wandered back through northern Europe to more congenial climes. Again it may be asked, how did this unnumbered host cross this frigid ocean to their present hiding place? On this point both history and revelation are silent. The Arctic Ocean was no narrow neck of the great waters like the Red Sea, with the mountains of the opposite shore full in view. No, it spread out before them eternally—north, east and west, with no inviting36 shore in sight beyond. Yet despite all this, they did cross it, but how, we know not—perhaps on the ice of winter, perhaps the Lord threw up a highway or divided the waters as he did aforetime, that they passed through dry shod. But we must abide37 His time, when this and other secrets of their history shall be revealed.
Since penning the foregoing ideas, we have been informed that certain ancient Scandinavian legends entirely38 agree with our theory. We understand that these legends state that the Ten Tribes, in their journey northward, erected39 at various points, on prominent mountain heights and such like, monuments or heaps of stones, so that if they determined40 to return they might have some guides on the road back to the Euphrates. These same traditions state that colonies of the very young and infirm, as well as of the wayward and rebellious41, were left by the wayside, and from these colonies the fathers of the Norsemen sprang. These legends, in time became crystalized, and make their appearance as verities42 in the traditional histories of the nations of northern Europe.
Esdras says that he was shown that they abode43 in this north country until the latter time, when they were to come forth44 again, a great multitude, to add to the glory of Messiah's kingdom. This statement agrees with the word of modern revelation to which we now draw attention.
More than half a century ago the Lord, through Joseph Smith, in speaking of the lost Ten Tribes, says: (Doc. and Cov., Revelation called the Appendix). "They who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord, and their prophets shall hear His voice, and shall no longer stay themselves, and they shall smite45 the rocks and the ice shall flow down at their presence. And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.[B] Their enemies shall become a prey46 unto them, and in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched47 ground shall no longer be a thirsty land. And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants. And the boundaries of the everlasting48 hills shall tremble at their presence. And they shall fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim."
[Footnote B: Query-The Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans.]
It is very evident from the above quotation49 that Ephraim, or at least a large portion of that tribe, had at some period of his history, separated from the rest of the tribes of Israel, and at the time of this restitution50 was to dwell in a land far from the north country in which the residue51 were hidden. These tribes are to have the frozen barriers of the north melted, so that the ice shall flow down, then a highway is to be cast up for them, in the midst of the great deep, next they cross barren deserts and a thirsty land and eventually arrive with their rich treasures at the home of Ephraim, the first born of God of the house of Israel, to be crowned with glory at his hands.
We must now draw the attention of our readers to certain extracts from the Book of Mormon, which show that at the time of our Savior's visit to this continent, Ephraim and the Ten Tribes dwelt neither on this land nor on the land of Jerusalem. Jesus says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I have other sheep which are not of this land nor in the land of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land, round about whither I have been to minister. But they of whom I speak have not as yet heard my voice, neither have I at any time manifested myself unto them; but I have received a commandment of the Father that I should go unto them and they shall be numbered among my sheep, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd, therefore I go to show myself unto them. And I command you that ye shall write these sayings, after I am gone, that if it be so that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me, and been with me in my ministry52, do not ask the Father in my name that the) may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and also of the other tribes that they know not of, that these sayings which ye shall write shall be kept, and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles, that through the fullness of the Gentiles the remnant of their seed who shall be scattered53 forth upon the face of the earth, because of their unbelief, may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer. And then will I gather them in from the four quarters of the earth; and then will I fulfill54 the covenant55 which the Father hath made unto all the people of the house of Israel." (III. Nephi, chap. xvi.)
The statement of Jesus above cited, that the Ten Tribes did not dwell in the land of Jerusalem either in any parts of that land round about, effectually disposes of the theory of Josephus and others, that they dwelt near the river Euphrates. The reason why the Jews had lost sight of their brethren of the house of Israel is explained by Jesus in the same chapter of the Book of Mormon as that from which the above quotation is taken. He states: "The other tribes hath the Father separated from them [the Jews]; and it is because of their iniquity56 that they knew not of them."
Some have imagined that it was unscriptural to look for Israel except in three places: The scattered Jews in all the world, the Lamanites on this continent, and the Ten Tribes in Azareth. But we claim that we have abundant reason from scripture57 to expect to find the seed of Joseph as well as that of Judah in every nation under heaven. The prophecies recorded in the Old Testament58 expressly state that Israel, especially Ephraim, was to be scattered among all people.
How completely they were to be scattered is shown by the following prophecies:
Hosea (xiii: 3) in rebuking59 Ephraim's idolatry in the name of the Lord, says:
"Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff60 that is driven by the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney."
Amos (ix: 8, 9) states:
"Behold61 the eyes of the Lord are upon the sinful kingdom [of Israel], and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly62 destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift63 the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted64 in a sieve65, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth."
Could any scattering66 be more complete?
We are directly told that the Lord will bring His sons (Ephraim still being His first-born) from afar and His daughters from the ends of the earth. It is further said that He will gather His Israel—not from the north alone—but from the north and from the south, from the east and from the west, and bring them to Zion; and that He (the Lord) will gather them from all countries (not America nor the polar regions only, but all countries) in which He had scattered them; among other places from the coasts of the earth. How apt a description is this last sentence of the lands from which the great bulk of modern Israel have been gathered. From the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, from the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas, they have come to Zion by tens of thousands.
President Brigham Young stated in the discourse67 quoted in a previous chapter, that ninety-nine out of every hundred of the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ were of the blood of Israel. The people whom he was addressing were men of various nationalities, but by far the greater portion of them were descendants of those races that in the fourth and succeeding centuries of the Christian68 era swarmed69 in myriads70 out of that mother of nations, Scandinavia, and filled central and western Europe with a new civilization; the people, in fact, who overthrew71 the great Roman empire and laid the foundation of the majority of the nations of modern Europe. It was to the descendants of the Goths, the Danes, the Jutes, the Angles, the Saxons, the Normans, the Franks, that he was talking, and in our next chapter we shall bring forward some of the historical arguments used by Gentile writers to prove the Israelitish descent of these races, more particularly of that dominant72 one known today as the Anglo-Saxon. We do not this because we think the word of God's servants requires proving by Gentile evidence, but because it is a satisfaction to many minds, not only to know that a thing is so, but to be able to give a reason, or advance an argument to demonstrate why it is so.
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1
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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7
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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conjectured
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| 推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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recuperate
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| v.恢复 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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rigors
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| 严格( rigor的名词复数 )； 严酷； 严密； （由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体）僵直 | |
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frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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bleaker
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| 阴冷的( bleak的比较级 )； （状况）无望的； 没有希望的； 光秃的 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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capability
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| n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等 | |
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ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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distinctively
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| adv.特殊地，区别地 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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falter
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| vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚 | |
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toils
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| 网 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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34
mosses
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| n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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39
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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42
verities
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| n.真实( verity的名词复数 )；事实；真理；真实的陈述 | |
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43
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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smite
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| v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿 | |
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46
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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47
parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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48
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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49
quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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50
restitution
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| n.赔偿；恢复原状 | |
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51
residue
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| n.残余，剩余，残渣 | |
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52
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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53
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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54
fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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55
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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56
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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57
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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59
rebuking
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的现在分词 ) | |
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60
chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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61
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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sift
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| v.筛撒，纷落，详察 | |
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sifted
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| v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审 | |
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sieve
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| n.筛，滤器，漏勺 | |
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66
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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71
overthrew
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| overthrow的过去式 | |
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72
dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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