Internal Consistency related to Lehi and Zenos' Allegory -- "Broken off"

There is a subtle internally consistent detail related to Zenos' Allegory in Jacob 5 regarding the expression "broken off," which appears a total of 9 times in the entire Book of Mormon.  Every instance is found on the small plates, and in every case the context is the scattering of Israel.

Lehi uses the expression once in 2 Nephi 3:

5 Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.

Nephi mentions his father's use of the phrase in 1 Nephi 10:

12 Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles, and also concerning the house of Israel, that they should be compared like unto an olive tree, whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth.

Nephi also makes mention of this expression while answering his brothers' question about what Lehi meant, 1 Nephi 15:

12 Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel was compared unto an olive tree, by the Spirit of the Lord which was in our father; and behold are we not broken off from the house of Israel, and are we not a branch of the house of Israel?

Nephi uses "broken off" twice in 1 Nephi 19:

24 Wherefore I spake unto them, saying: Hear ye the words of the prophet, ye who are a remnant of the house of Israel, a branch who have been broken off; hear ye the words of the prophet, which were written unto all the house of Israel, and liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope as well as your brethren from whom ye have been broken off; for after this manner has the prophet written.

Intriguingly, the phrase is found twice in the opening of Nephi's quotation of Isaiah 49 in a sentence which is not found in the Biblical version:

1 And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (1 Nephi 21)

Jacob uses the expression once in his sermon to the Nephites in 2 Nephi 10, in the same verse in which he references God's "will and pleasure" (which is the subject of a previous post on internal consistency related to Zenos' allegory):

22 For behold, the Lord God has led away from time to time from the house of Israel, according to his will and pleasure. And now behold, the Lord remembereth all them who have been broken off, wherefore he remembereth us also.

Finally, we have the last use of the phrase "broken off" in Zenos' allegory:

30 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard and the servant went down into the vineyard; and they came to the tree whose natural branches had been broken off, and the wild branches had been grafted in; and behold all sorts of fruit did cumber the tree. (Jacob 5)

The context is consistent with each usage.  The Lord sees fit to send forth righteous branches of His people prior to the destruction of the main body of the House of Israel in order to preserve a remnant and set up the grand latter-day gathering in of the House of Israel and establishment of His covenant people. The fact that this phrase is uniquely preserved for this context is pretty remarkable.

Scattering as a necessary prerequisite for the gathering -- Part 2 of 2

In part 1, we looked at the prophesied scattering of Israel, a major theme of the Book of Mormon.  This scattering is necessary for the gathering to take place.

In this post, we'll look at a few of the many references to the gathering of Israel in the Book of  Mormon. As with the scattering of Israel, many references to the gathering of Israel in the last days can be found in the Book of Mormon.  This is a major theme.

Lehi prophesied about the gathering of Israel:

14 And after the house of Israel should be scattered they should be gathered together again; or, in fine, after the Gentiles had received the fulness of the Gospel, the natural branches of the olive tree, or the remnants of the house of Israel, should be grafted in, or come to the knowledge of the true Messiah, their Lord and their Redeemer. (1 Nephi 10)

Nephi also prophesied about the gathering:

12 Wherefore, he will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. (1 Nephi 22)

14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever. (2 Nephi 29) 

Nephi quoted Isaiah about the gathering of Israel:

12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (2 Nephi 21)

Mormon wrote about it as well:

26 And then shall they know their Redeemer, who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and then shall they be gathered in from the four quarters of the earth unto their own lands, from whence they have been dispersed; yea, as the Lord liveth so shall it be. Amen. (3 Nephi 5)

Jesus Christ teaches about the gathering several times, perhaps most notably in 3 Nephi 20:

13 And then shall the remnants, which shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth, be gathered in from the east and from the west, and from the south and from the north; and they shall be brought to the knowledge of the Lord their God, who hath redeemed them.

18 And I will gather my people together as a man gathereth his sheaves into the floor.

29 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.

33 Then will the Father gather them together again, and give unto them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance.

When President Nelson speaks of the utmost importance of the gathering of Israel, he is speaking of the fulfillment of a prophecy that is thousands of years old!


I also see temple themes embedded within this pattern of scattering and gathering. In order to progress back to the presence of the Father with a physical body, we chose to leave His presence and "come down" to an uncertain and dreary place, undergoing a type of scattering, but not without a promise that messengers would visit us and show us the way back -- a plan from the beginning to gather us in. This mortal phase is about hearkening to those messengers and following the path back to the tree of life. If the fall represents a scattering, the everlasting covenant represents the gathering.

Scattering as a necessary prerequisite for gathering -- Part 1 of 2

Something in one of Stisa's latest posts caught my attention. In speaking about Zenos' allegory, he said:

He is now planning on how to be able to obtain good fruit again, by grafting the natural branches back into the "mother tree" among other things (the gathering of Israel in these latter days). (link to post)

As I read this, an idea struck me. The scattering is a necessary prerequisite before the gathering can take place. The foreknowledge of God allows for a grand plan to come into reality.  Knowing that his covenant people would fall away repeatedly, God prepared a way for this rebellion to help accomplish His purposes. Just as Isaiah said that the conquering foreign kings would be nothing more than tools in the hand of God (see 2 Nephi 20:15), the long foretold rebellion of the Lamanites and Nephites set the stage for the grand final gathering in the latter days.

In this two-part post, we'll first look at references in the Book of Mormon to the scattering of Israel.

The Scattering

What follows below is a sampling of the many references to the scattering of Israel in the Book of Mormon.  This is not a tangential side-story -- it is a major theme.

Lehi taught about the scattering:

12 Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles, and also concerning the house of Israel, that they should be compared like unto an olive tree, whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth. (1 Nephi 10) 

11 Yea, he will bring other nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten. (2 Nephi 1)

As did Nephi:

14 And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten. (1 Nephi 13)

17 And this is what our father meaneth; and he meaneth that it will not come to pass until after they are scattered by the Gentiles; and he meaneth that it shall come by way of the Gentiles, that the Lord may show his power unto the Gentiles, for the very cause that he shall be rejected of the Jews, or of the house of Israel. (1 Nephi 15)

3 Wherefore, the things of which I have read are things pertaining to things both temporal and spiritual; for it appears that the house of Israel, sooner or later, will be scattered upon all the face of the earth, and also among all nations. (1 Nephi 22)

15 Wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered among all nations; yea, and also Babylon shall be destroyed; wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered by other nations.  (2 Nephi 25)

Nephi quotes Isaiah on the subject:

1 And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (1 Nephi 21)

Jacob teaches the same doctrine:

10 And after they have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks against the Holy One of Israel, behold, the judgments of the Holy One of Israel shall come upon them. And the day cometh that they shall be smitten and afflicted.
11 Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated... (2 Nephi 6)

Samuel the Lamanite preached it:

11 Yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth—
12 Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them. (Helaman 15)

When Christ ministered to the Nephites, he taught the same doctrine several times:

13 And then shall the remnants, which shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth, be gathered in from the east and from the west, and from the south and from the north; and they shall be brought to the knowledge of the Lord their God, who hath redeemed them. (3 Nephi 20)

 29 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord seeth fit in his wisdom that they shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be fulfilled, and also because of the convincing power of God which is in them. (3 Nephi 28)

Finally, Mormon also taught this doctrine:

15 And also that the seed of this people may more fully believe his gospel, which shall go forth unto them from the Gentiles; for this people shall be scattered... (Mormon 5)

In part 2 of this series, we'll look at the many prophecies of the gathering of Israel.