Elder Jeffrey R. Holland on the 175th Anniversary of Orson Hyde’s Historic Journey
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- Опубліковано 27 жов 2016
- Dear friends, in the midst of all this discussion about Orson Hyde’s prayer, the presence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Israel, and some history about this magnificent Brigham Young University Center, it strikes me that we may need just a little more context for all of this. Some one of you may be asking, “What prompted all of this Orson Hyde stuff anyway?” Let me try to say a word in that regard to provide a backdrop to all you are seeing and hearing.
You know better than I the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and posterity which did not, it turned out, preclude the scattering and dispersion of that posterity, sifted “like as corn is sifted in a sieve,” he prophet Amos described it, fulfilling what Moses had recorded in the Torah: “And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.”
Note this prophecy in the Book of Mormon, our sacred record which is Semitic in its origin:
“And I will remember the covenant which I have made with my people; and I have covenanted with them that I would gather them together in mine own due time, that I would give unto them again the land of their fathers for their inheritance, which is the land of Jerusalem, which is the promised land unto them forever, saith the Father. …
“Then shall they break forth into joy-Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Father hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.”
All of this-minus the Book of Mormon material-you know far better than I, but I mention it to provide historical context for something not as well known. That is that one of the foundational pieces of LDS theology is that we of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints represent a remnant of the tribe of Joseph, with our patriarchal lines going back principally to Ephraim and Manasseh, and that in such a covenantal relationship modern prophets have played a role in the gathering of the Jews to their homeland.
In 1830, a 14-year-old boy named Joseph Smith prayed to know what God would have him do and had a divine manifestation instructing him, among other things, that it was soon time for the scriptural promises given to ancient Israel to be fulfilled and that he, Joseph Smith Jr., would be instrumental in restoring the priesthood and powers that would bring to fruition those prophecies. Following the dedication of the first Latter-day Saint temple built in the tradition of but not with the luxury of the temple of Solomon, the young prophet Joseph Smith, by then 30 years of age, was visited by a series of Old Testament prophets who appeared and initiated the fulfillment of many of the promises we have been referring to today. One visitor was the prophet Elijah in fulfillment of the ancient promise recorded by Malachi:
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
We know that it is a cherished Jewish tradition to leave an empty chair for Elijah at Passover. We feel we understand that tradition better than any non-Jewish group in the world because part of our history involves the return of Elijah and the filling of that empty chair. Furthermore, Elijah’s return is crucial to Latter-day Saint theology, giving meaning to the 152 temples we have built around the world with many more to come. In those temples “the heart[s] of the fathers [are turned] to the children, and the heart[s] of the children to their fathers.”
That leads me to another visitor received by the 30-year-old Joseph Smith on that same occasion: the prophet Moses. Of this manifestation the young prophet wrote: “The heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us 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.”
That world-changing appearance of Moses-father of Israel’s first return to the promised homeland-initiated a latter-day return that would, according to the prophet Jeremiah, transcend in significance that earlier escape from Egypt. As Dr. Kearl has explained, Orson Hyde’s 1841 mission to Jerusalem to dedicate this land for the return of the Jews and for Jerusalem to be its capital city was an important moment in the latter-day Jewish return to their homeland-coming nearly 50 years before Theodor Herzl’s rise to prominence and 80 years before the Balfour Declaration.
Grateful of my Sephardi Jewish ancestry and even more for being a latter day saint.
As a Jew at birth I am excited to see my faith in the restored church fulfilling its commitment to the Lord and his promise to the Jewish people. As the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints embraces Moses and Joseph Smiths prophecies in the Latter days we will gather all tribes as one family and experience His joy together. Amen
I appreciate that Elder Holland speaks with kind boldness, clarity, and power. A true apostle!
I always enjoy hearing the brethren speak in public with other groups, organizations, and faiths.
I am so thankful of being born in this last dispensation. I believed we are chosen to help in the gathering of Israel. Time of preparation for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I love video when concentrated it affirms & confirm in action my reading in the scripture. Image is printed in my mind. Away but seen my prophet & apostle with the rest of other leaders. I love these video conference. Thank you.
Thank you Pres Holland this was beautiful God bless the house of Israel.
This is more important today than ever.
Blessed be our God and The Gathering of Israel He is doing presently.
First to the gentiles... and then to the Jews (1 Nephi 13: 42). Is this it? I find this very significant.
Today is a wonderful time to be alive! Israel is being gathered to our Heavenly Father as we speak, and we will all be able be bound together to God and our loved ones forever if we are faithful in Following Jesus Christ!
❤❤❤
Love elder holland!
Prophicies are being fulfilled, and the restored Gospel is true.
Hold up, skimming the description it says LDS theology, is that in the talk? I haven't heard it yet. But shouldn't we use the full church name on that? Theology of TCoJCoLDS? And my mind is debating on it being doctrines of Jesus Christ but I think it is the theology of the church as we understand it and currently practice it.
Mr. Holland.. you mentioned Elijah visited Joseph. You didnt mention Elias visited him too. Is it because Joseph Smith declared both did, but the problem is that they are different versions of the name of the same person, and Joseph Smith missed that detail, confusingly enough?
I drink coffee. and I don't think they is anything wrong with drinking coffer
Despina a M
You could try asking God what He thinks about it
-- caffeine is physically addictive -- i found that out for myself when i stopped drinking coffee and suffered withdrawal headaches for a week -- you can't give yourself to God if you are a slave to coffee, or to tobacco, or to anything else -- free yourself and find the joy --
Perhaps it is a question of obedience in all things. The Saviour gave up his very life, in obedience... and love for us. Our task is to learn to be like him.
joankingrmr@gmail.com
You are awesome, we love you!
Coffee is not good for the body. Our body is the Temple of God. We observed the word of wisdom to have always the Spirit of God for our righteous direction.
Why doesn't he say God's name instead of ' Lord'?
Respect
He doesn't state scripture OR verse so these people can look to check for themselves. Not like the JWs at all.
Jesus Christ was a Hebrew from the tribe of Judah.. Woodley Hair.feet as bronze as burn in a furnace there is a big difference between a Jew and Jewish.