Editor's note: This article comes from a new book, Mine Elect Hear My Voice: The Gathering of Israel by Marvin R. VanDam.

The house of Israel is paramount in the history of mankind. It has the leading role on the stage of religious mortality. The sacred history of this world will someday be written in terms of Israel — God's covenant with Israel; God's struggles with wayward Israel; God's subsequent scattering of Israel; God's latter-day restoration of the gospel to Israel; God's gathering of Israel, and Israel's ultimate habitation of this world when it becomes celestialized.

The subject of Israel and the latter days can, however, be complex and challenging. References to the house of Israel, its beginnings, its purposes and its destiny are scattered generously throughout scripture. But the very fact that they are scattered and fragmented makes it challenging to see and understand them as a coherent whole. Hence this book, the purpose of which is to bring together relevant scripture by topic and by event.

Although much that is useful and of interest has been written by way of interpretation of doctrine and prophetic statement concerning the future, Mine Elect Hear My Voice: The Gathering of Israel is exclusively scripture-based. Many latter-day prophets and other Church leaders have taught meaningfully concerning the house of Israel and have made significant statements about future events, but such teachings and statements have not been incorporated into this study. The intent of this study, instead, has been to rely only on the scriptural standard works of the Church. Historical and factual information from reliable sources has also been included where appropriate.

Personal conjecture or speculation regarding doctrine and future events has been avoided in the book. The intent has been to allow the scriptures to speak for themselves regarding such, which they do wonderfully.

Vital Questions

The scriptures clearly give to understand that the elect of Israel, together with Abraham and all of the foreordained prophets, were the more obedient and valiant spirits in their pre-mortal defense of Jehovah, the pre-mortal Christ, and of his gospel plan of individual freedom and exaltation. They were those who followed him, seeking truth and righteousness.

God is no respecter of persons. His organization and foreordination of the house of Israel (or Jacob) in pre-mortality to become his elect and covenant people on earth was justly occasioned by obedience and valor. God identified, among all of the pre-mortal hosts, those who had qualified themselves to be counted among his chosen people.

Moses wrote regarding pre-mortal Israel:

Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance (Deuteronomy 32:7–9).

The Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah concerning Israel's creation and formation: “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

Israel's significance in the course of the world's history, God's covenant with and promises to Israel, and the prophecies concerning future Israel constitute a highly prominent and significant theme in all of scripture. The importance of the house of Israel among those of the family of God who inhabit this earth cannot be overemphasized.

Isaiah wrote:

Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant. ... I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring (Isaiah 44:1–3).

Latter-day revelation announces to the believing saints: “For ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham” (D&C 103:17).

Constant Thread

A search of the standard works of scripture yields 2,862 instances of the word “Israel” in the texts of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. There are a great many additional references to “the children of Abraham,” “Abraham's seed,” “the house of Jacob,” “the chosen people,” “the covenant people,” “the elect of God” and so forth. The subject of Israel is a constant thread running throughout all of the standard works of scripture.

It is of interest, and also of significance, that the hymns sung by members of the Church of Jesus Christ include many references to Israel. The 1985 edition of Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints begins with hymns of the restoration. Of the first seventeen hymns, nine speak of Israel, Jacob or Ephraim. Of the first seventy-four hymns, twenty-three do likewise. Hymn #322, “Come, All Ye Sons of God,” announces: “The latter-day work has begun, to gather scattered Israel in, and bring them back to Zion to praise the Lamb.”

Who now, among the multitudes of mankind on this earth, are the family of Israel? The literal descendants of the ancient patriarch Jacob (whose name God changed to Israel) comprise the house of Israel here in mortality — together with any and all of God's children of any nation, kindred, tongue or people who yet choose membership in the house of Israel by adoption through baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost .

All of Israel — all of mankind who will follow the Good Shepherd and be of his fold — whether they be so by birth and faithfulness or by adoption and faithfulness, are heirs to the singular promises made by God to all of his faithful children through the everlasting covenant he established with Father Abraham. God's covenant with Abraham was likewise established with Abraham's son, Isaac, and with Isaac's son, Jacob, who was given the name Israel. The covenant continues on with Jacob 's descendents, the twelve tribes of Israel.

And what is this extraordinary covenant? The singular promise given by God to Father Abraham — the everlasting covenant established by God with Abraham and his righteous posterity — is comprised of three highly significant elements:

This latter promise is beautifully explained in the Book of Abraham:

My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;

And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father;

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal (Abraham 2:8–11).

The Preface to the Book of Mormon highlights the significance and relevance of the Abrahamic covenant:

Which is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord” (Book of Mormon, Preface Title Page: 2).

Joseph Smith petitioned in the revelatory prayer offered at the dedication of the Kirtland temple in 1836: “Put upon thy servants the testimony of the covenant” (D&C 109:38).

Chosen Membership

Of supreme significance is the ultimate blessing and destiny of those who choose membership in the family of Israel — those who by their proven faithfulness to Christ and their righteous living will comprise the house of Israel at the final day. The scriptures teach that the house of Israel will ultimately and eternally be comprised of those who are the true and faithful believers in Christ. Indeed, the Latter-day Saints are taught in their temples that it should be their desire and purpose to have membership in the house of Israel forever.

But returning to the patriarchs, what became of God's chosen people of Israel after the Lord brought them out of Egypt and into their promised land? Tragically, the tribes of Israel, in the course of and because of their many centuries of transgression, were broken up and scattered throughout all the nations of earth.

That Israel's scattering would be far and wide, among all nations, was made clear to the ancient prophets:

And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone (Deuteronomy 28:64).

Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations” (Nehemiah 1:8). “And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries (Ezekiel 12:15).

For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve (Amos 9:9).

Lehi and his people, who fled from Jerusalem because of Israel's stiffneckedness and transgressions, prophesied likewise concerning the length and breadth of Israel's scattering:

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 10:12).

A merciful God, however, promised wayward Israel that he would remember them in the last days and reach out a second time to gather and restore them.

The scriptures contain many wonderful expressions of the Lord's promise to remember his chosen people who were scattered among all the nations and to gather them back into his fold. The LDS chapter heading to Jeremiah chapter 3 states: “In the last days, the Lord will gather Israel, one of a city and two of a family, and bring them to Zion.”

Nephi prophesied: “But behold, there shall be many — at that day when I shall proceed to do a marvelous work among them, that I may remember my covenants which I have made unto the children of men, that I may set my hand again the second time to recover my people, which are of the house of Israel” (2 Nephi 29:1).

Now, in this final dispensation of the fulness of times and of preparation for Christ's return, Israel is being gathered again by the preaching of the restored gospel of Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. This is the great obligation of the Latter-day Saints!

Wonderful Work

The latter-day work of the preaching and the gathering among the nations is a marvelous and wonderful work. It is a beautiful and joyful work, as many hundreds of thousands of former missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have testified. It has produced and continues to produce great results. It is a mission of supreme importance in preparation for the second coming of Christ.

But the search for those who will truly believe in Christ — those who will accept his restored gospel and will gather to Zion and its stakes — Is also a challenging work. Depending on the place and the time, the process of searching among the nations and sifting through their multitudes to find those who will hear and obey the voice of the Good Shepherd can be laborious, as many missionaries have also testified. The following scriptures give evidence of this fact.

And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. (1 Nephi 14:12).

Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts (2 Nephi 28:32).

And when the times of the Gentiles is come in, a light shall break forth among them that sit in darkness, and it shall be the fulness of my gospel; But they receive it not; for they perceive not the light, and they turn their hearts from me because of the precepts of men (D&C 45:27–30).

Again, though, the latter-day gathering process continues to be extended to the ends of the earth and to bring into the sheepfold of Israel a great many righteous believers. What has been and will be this process of the gathering since the commencement in 1820 of this dispensation of the fulness of times?

Phases of the Gathering

The scriptures identify the gathering in terms of events and peoples — phases if you will. It can help one's understanding of the gathering process to identify and understand these phases and their inter-relationships in some orderly fashion. (The latter-day gathering is a lengthy and complex process that must, however, be looked upon as an on-going whole.)

For purposes of discussion and understanding, phases of the gathering might be identified as follows:

Mine Elect Hear My Voice: The Gathering of Israel briefly describes each of the above phases in its interim chapter, An Overview of the Latter-day Gathering of Israel. Subsequent chapters treat each phase in greater depth.

Part 2 of this 2-part Meridian Magazine series will cover topics that pertain to the latter-day gathering: Ephraim and the gathering, My Sheep Hear My Voice, The Gentiles and the gathering, the Lamanites and the gathering, the New Jerusalem and the gathering, the Jews and the gathering, and the completion of the gathering after the second coming of Christ.