“Unto Him Will I Give Power to Bring Forth My Word”

Monte S. Nyman

11 But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them.30 And again, a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins; and not to the bringing forth of my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them in the last days;12 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. [2 Nephi 3:11–12]31 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 a knowledge of their fathers in the latter days; and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord. [JST, Genesis 50:30–31]

The JST Genesis 50 text begins with “And again” instead of the Second Nephi “But.” Both in context are a comparison made to Moses, and these differences do not change the message. The word of the Lord that the seer was to bring forth to the seed of Joseph of Egypt (v. 11) was, of course, the Book of Mormon. That this record would also convince them of the word “which shall have already gone forth among them” (v. 11), being the Bible is sustained by revelation. The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph that one of the primary purposes of the Book of Mormon was to prove “to the world that the holy scriptures [the Bible] are true” (D&C 20:11). This also supports that the fourth description of the seer is the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Joseph of Egypt was further told that the writings of the fruit of [Joseph’s] loins, and the writings of the fruit of the loins of Judah would grow together in four ways: (1) confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions; (2) establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins; (3) bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days; and (4) bringing them to the knowledge of the Lord’s covenants (v. 12). The converts to the Lord and his Church among the Gentiles or the Lamanites, especially those in Central and South America, exemplify the four ways the seed of Joseph and Judah growing together. As the Bible and the Book of Mormon are studied together, the false doctrines are corrected, and interpretations of scriptures are no longer argued. We become brothers and sisters in the gospel. We love and serve each other. We learn of their ancestors, and we learn from where they originated. Last of all we both learn that we are of the house of Israel and that we are the covenant people of the Lord. The Bible and the Book of Mormon compliment and supplement each other, and as Ezekiel prophesied, they “become one in [our] hand” (Ezekiel 37:17, 19).

The prophecy of Joseph of Egypt is similar to Ezekiel’s well known “two sticks” prophecy partially quoted above. It is possible that Joseph’s prophecy was lost among the Jews, which would explain why a similar prophecy was given to Ezekiel. Jeremiah, whose ministry was at this time, speaks of “the false pens of the scribes worketh for falsehoods” (Jeremiah 8:8).

As time passes, this prophecy will be fulfilled more and more as the Bible and the Book of Mormon is studied together. The work of Joseph Smith started all of this.

Book of Mormon Commentary: I Nephi Wrote This Record

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