THE STICK OF JUDAH AND THE STICK OF JOSEPH SHALL BECOME ONE 

            I have been blogging about the testimony of prophets that Jesus is the Christ.  I’ve cited Old Testament prophets and Book of Mormon prophets. What a wonderful blessing and treasure it is to have the words of the prophets who lived before Christ on both continents!   God surely has provided an abundance of witnesses to prophesy of the coming of his Son.   Many of you know that I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon.  I believe with my whole heart that the Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ.  There is an interesting scripture in the Book of Mormon.  A prophets of old have done, he writes as the Lord speaking in first person.  In essence he is quoting God.

“Know ye not that there are more nations than one?  Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?

8 Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a ^cwitness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another?  Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another.  And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.” (2 Nephi 30:7-8)

The scripture unites perfectly with a scripture in Ezekiel.  It is an often misunderstood prophecy.  He prophesies of two sticks  joining together.  In Biblical language “sticks” are books or scriptures.

16  Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

17  And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. (Ezekiel 37:16-17)

            The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asserts that this prophecy was fulfilled when the Church annotated and cross-referenced the King James Version of the Bible with its other standard works, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.”   In a conference address in October, 1982, Elder Boyd K. Packer, spoke of this extensive project.

“The sticks, of course, are records or books. In ancient Israel records were written upon tablets of wood or .scrolls rolled upon sticks. The record of Judah and the record of Ephraim, according to the prophecy, were to become one in our hands.

The stick or record of Judah—the Old Testament and the New Testament—and the stick or record of Ephraim—the Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ—are now woven together in such a way that as you pore over one you are drawn to the other; as you learn from one you are enlightened by the other. They are indeed one in our hands. Ezekiel’s prophecy now stands fulfilled.”

As I hold the Bible and the Book of Mormon in my hands I’m amazed that I’m holding the fulfillment of an ancient prophesy.  It’s a miracle to me!  I truly love both sets of scripture.  They are a “lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105)